Chronoa
by Zayren Heart
Summary: Christine needs help. So does Allen. Can Allen be the one to help her? Or will she end up helping him instead? When the NOAH make an appearance, it takes just one wrong move. AU AllenOC R
1. Chapter 1

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter One

* * *

**_Revised_**

"Class, pay attention! We have two new students coming in today, so be on your best behavior!" Christine's teacher yelled, making her come out of the daze she was in and jerk her head to the front of the classroom. Her light brown, almost blonde hair that hung straight just beneath her shoulders followed the movement and landed haphazardly in her dull green eyes.

'_Great,'_ she thought dejectedly, '_more people to hate me.'_

"Class, please welcome Allen Walker and Yū Kanda. I expect you _all_ to behave kindly," the teacher said, glaring around the room. His eyes rested on Christine for a moment, making her flinch back at the clear warning, before he moved to the door. When he opened it, two boys were standing there waiting with bored expressions.

The first one was considered a little short for a boy and wearing all black – black skinny jeans, black boots and a black zip-up hoodie that covered his hair; he was also wearing a black eye-patch that completely covered his left eye. He waved slightly, smiling, as he opened his eye to reveal it to be a shocking silver in color.

The other boy stood at least a head taller than him, and was dressed similarly in dark, straight-legged jeans that hugged his legs, black trainers, and a slim-fitting black leather jacket that was zipped half-way closed, exposing the dark blue t-shirt that had silver graphics on it. His hair, which was much longer than usual for a male, was pulled back into a neat ponytail with a few pieces falling to frame his face and cover his piercing, dark blue eyes.

"Please introduce yourselves." The teacher, whose name was Mr. Haknoys, smiled widely at the two. The boys grimaced slightly and stepped forward simultaneously.

"My name is Allen Walker," the shorter one told everybody. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, bowing slightly. He spoke with a slight British accent, making most of the girls in the class swoon. Christine wasn't paying attention though; she had started gazing out of the window again. Why should she pay attention to the new arrivals, anyway? It wasn't like she would interact with them.

"Che. Kanda," the Asian one said, glaring. Mr. Haknoys shrank back slightly from the intensity of the glare.

"Welcome," he said. "Please take an empty seat." He made a vague gesture towards the students before going to sit down at his desk in a corner of the room. The two new students look at one another briefly before moving as one to the mostly empty back of the classroom.

Christine watched the duo warily as they sat next to each other a row behind her. What they would do to her, she wondered. Everyone in her class seemed to think she was a stuck-up brat for some reason, without even bothering to try to talk to her. This made her wonder if the two new students would agree with them or not. Not that she would mind, per se; she added everything up to being a teenager, and in high school. As Mr. Haknoys started the lesson, the majority of the class drifted off into dreamland; it was only 7:00 AM after all.

When the bell rang, obnoxious as usual, there was a mad dash to gather everything up and rush out of the door. Sighing to herself, Christine slowly stood up and gathered her nondescript backpack up on her shoulders. As she made to shuffle out of the door, Mr. Haknoys called out to her.

"Ms. Nicholes, if you would come here for a moment," he said with a false grin covering his face. Sighing again, this time with apprehension, she walked quickly to his desk. "I've noticed that your work has been even more dismal than usual. I expect that you'll work harder from now on," he told her flatly. Christine nodded, looking down, and turned to walk away. Mr. Haknoys stood and stepped pass her swiftly, making her trip in the process.

"Oof," she grunted as she landed gracelessly on her hands and knees.

"Are you alright?" a soft, British-accented voice questioned. Looking up, she noticed the one called Allen Walker kneeling in front of her, holding out a hand. Kanda was standing, arms crossed, behind him.

"Mm-hm," she muttered, ignoring the proffered hand and climbing shakily to her feet. Situating her backpack correctly on her shoulders once again, she gave the two a weak smile before heading to her next class.

"That was fairly unusual, don't you agree, Kanda?" Allen asked his companion. Kanda shrugged.

"Che. Hell if I care; the teacher's a jackass," he muttered. Allen chuckled quietly.

"Yes, I suppose he is. We'd better head to our next class." He said as he headed out of the door, Kanda following silently behind him.

**0-0-0**

When lunch came, Christine was very relieved. Hurrying out of the classroom before the teacher could corner her, she made her way to the cafeteria. After sitting in her usual spot, at a small round table in a corner, she allowed herself to relax slightly. She pulled out the book she was currently reading and had just started getting into it when a commotion near the food line made her look up.

Allen and Kanda, accompanied by a third boy with flaming crimson hair, were arguing quite loudly.

"Shut up BaKanda! Like you don't need to eat!" Allen yelled at him. Apparently, Kanda had made some comment related to the vast amount of food that Allen was balancing in his hands. In response, Kanda simple tsked and motioned for him to find a seat. The trio wandered around the immensely crowded room before Allen pointed to the corner Christine sat.

"Hello, do you mind if we sit here?" Allen asked in his usual polite manner. She shrugged with indifference and gestured for them to take a seat. "I know you know who Kanda and I are, but this is our friend, Lavi," he introduced.

Lavi was tall, at least as tall as Kanda, and was dressed in fairly simple clothing. He was clothed in worn, faded blue jeans that fit his thin hips snugly, a fitted black t-shirt that was partially covered by the checkered zip-up hoodie he wore, and a pair of classic Chucks. His hair was what caught Christine's attention the most; it was a bright, crimson red that stuck up at an odd angle and was held in place by a black bandana. His eyes were also pretty unusual – he had one electric green eye, the other was covered in an eye patch similar to Allen's. He waved energetically at her.

"You don't talk much, do you?" he asked when she had nodded back at him in greeting. She shook her head with a slight smile.

"That's alright, neither does Kanda," Allen said with a grin.

"Che. Shut up, bean sprout," Kanda muttered menacingly. Said bean sprout just grinned at him.

"Anyways," Lavi interrupted the soon to be fight. "Did you already eat?" He asked her, shoveling a sporkfull of salad into his mouth. A frown marred his features when she shook her head.

"Why not?" Everyone at the table looked at Kanda in surprise, not expecting him to have even been paying attention to their conversation.

"No money," Christine said, her voice somewhat hoarse from continued disuse. The trio frowned, knowing what it was like, not being able to buy anything.

"We know how that is," Lavi said, shoveling even more food into his mouth. "Here, you can have some of mine." He slid his try closer to her.

"No, thank you." She said, shaking her head.

"C'mon, one bite won't hurt you," Allen joined in this time, holding a spork that had a heap of spaghetti on it in front of her mouth.

"You two need it more than I do," she argued, her voice cracking. They stared at her in disbelief. The plain clothes she wore hung off of her small frame loosely, making her seem much smaller than she really was. And she thought that _they_ needed to eat more?

"Just eat it. They won't give up until you do," Kanda said in exasperation. He had finished his own lunch of noodles that he had brought from home, the chopsticks he had used resting neatly on top of the container.

"B-but…" While she was protesting, Allen shoved the spork into her mouth, forcing her to eat it, choking slightly.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Lavi asked. He and Allen had seemingly innocent smiles plastered on their faces.

"S-sure," she choked out, still coughing slightly. When a flash of bright pink entered her peripheral vision, she jerked her head in that direction. The sight that greeted her was less than pleasant. The schools resident Queen Bee, Hailee Southside, was striding towards their table with her 'best friend', Kaylie Brown. Both were wearing way too much pink for anyone's tastes but their own.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Hailee questioned sinisterly. "What are the new students doing hanging around with trash?" she asked, wide eyes giving off a sense of false innocence. Christine, still coughing every once in a while, looked down at the table with embarrassed eyes. She knew it wouldn't be long before the new kids turned against her also.

"I don't see any trash anywhere, actually," Allen said politely, smiling up at the two.

"Really now, cause I see a big pile of trash right there," Kaylie sneered, pointing at Christine. Lavi lost the usual grin that graced his face and instead a more feral type took over.

"Well all I see is our new friend, Christine, and I would appreciate it if you didn't insult her and left us alone," Lavi said with false merriment. The two pink-covered girls went wide-eyed with disbelief. It wasn't often that someone contradicted what they had to say.

"_Excuse _me?" Hailee asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"I believe you heard what he said quite clearly. Now please leave us to eat in peace." Allen said, his smile thinning dangerously. Kanda was glaring at the people who had dared to interrupt his meal time; not to mention the fact that the mass of bright color hurt his sensitive eyes.

Clearly shocked, the two spluttered for a witty response, but found that none came to mind. Christine was also in shock, but for the fact that, instead of agreeing with the majority and turning their backs on her, they had stuck up for her, even it if was just a miniscule amount. After seeing that they had clearly lost, the two girls gave one last malice-filled glare towards Christine before they marched back to their own table.

"Why…?" Christine muttered weakly, glancing up at the trip that had resumed eating.

"Because we're your friends," Lavi shrugged.

"Is that a normal occurrence?" Allen asked. Christine nodded meekly, making all three pairs of eyes darken.

"B-but, you don't have to worry about it! It's fine!" she quickly said, waving her hands in front of her.

"Obviously," Kanda said quietly, making the other's turn to look at him, "it is something to worry about, why do you not stand up for yourself? Che," he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"W-well…I'm just so used to it by now…I guess I just kinda ignore it," she said, her voice cracking again at the end. Allen shook his head, adjusting the hood that still covered it.

"It's not right, Christine. Why don't you tell someone about it? I'm sure _someone_ in this school could put a stop to it."

"Actually…" She trailed off as the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break. "Goodbye," She said, quickly gathering her bag and joined the hoard of students making their way to class. She was getting too attached already, and just because they had stood up for her one measly time. What would her mother think? Christine shuddered at the thought. Her mother could know nothing of her encounter with the new students. If she ever found out that someone, or in this particular case, some people, had actually stood up against the continuing onslaught against her daughter…Christine didn't even want to think about what she would do.

**0-0-0**

After suffering through three more classes, the last one which she had with Lavi, it was finally time for the school day to be over. Waiting until after the mass of talking students had hurried out of the classroom, Christine slowly gathered up her backpack and walked out of the classroom with Lavi at her side.

"So, what are you doing after school?" Lavi asked, folding his hands behind his head carelessly. She shrugged, flinching internally.

"Stuff," she muttered noncommittally . Lavi raised his one visible eyebrow in curiosity.

"Well, what kind of stuff?"

"Just stuff," she said softly, her voice still somewhat hoarse. "I have to clean, do homework, cook dinner, stuff like that."

"Aah, you gotta do all of that?" Lavi said as the two met up with Allen in the hall. "Where's Yū?"

"We're in different classes last hour, so I don't know," Allen shrugged. "Hey, Christine." He gave a little wave, smiling.

"H-hello Allen," she muttered, blushing slightly. She still wasn't used to people actually talking to her, let alone any sort of male her age. Especially one as cute as he was.

"Well, we're gonna go find Yū, so we'll see you tomorrow!" Lavi said, hugging her quickly before bouncing off. Allen grinned and waved before following after the eternally-excited redhead. Christine blushed a bright red and nodded.

"Later," She whispered, turning slowly to begin the hour long walk home. Dreading what she would find when she made it home, she quickened her pave to a swift walk, hoisting her heavy backpack higher on her back.

**0-0-0**

Arriving home an hour later, Christine sighed when she saw the lights on and the front door slightly ajar.

'_So, she's home…_' she thought, slowly heading up her driveway. Entering her house warily, she gazed around for her mother.

"So, you're finally home are you?" Whirling around, she spotted her hawk-like mother standing in the middle of the staircase. She nodded fearfully; her mother wasn't supposed to be home for at least another two hours. "Why are you home so late?" Her mother growled out, stomping down the stairs and forcefully grabbing Christine's arm.

"S-school," Christine stuttered out. Her mother's soulless eyes glared down at her.

"Humph. Get home quicker. Now, clean this mess up, you worthless brat," she sneered, throwing Christine's arm away from her. Christine nodded and hurriedly put her backpack down. Looking around at the extremely messy house, she sighed and got to work.

'_This…is going to take a while.'_

* * *

**_A/N:_**_ It's fully revised. R&R_

_-ZH_


	2. Chapter 2

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Two

* * *

**_Revised_**

Christine woke up to the ever-annoying sound of her alarm clock. Shutting it off quickly, as to not wake her mother, she hopped out of her twin-sized bed. She groaned as she stretched her limbs, sore from all of the cleaning that she had done the previous day. Not the mention the pain that the large, hand-shaped bruise that now marked her right forearm gave her.

After quickly getting dressed in her usual plain clothing, she looked at her clock to see that it read 5:45 AM. She had about 15 minutes until she had to leave. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to leave a few minutes early, she grabbed an apple, threw her backpack over her shoulders and hurried quietly out of her house.

The blonde girl arrived at the main building five minutes before class started. Slowly walking in, she took her usual seat next to the window and waited for Mr. Haknoys to start teaching his usual nonsense. She looked up when arguing alerted her to the arrival of Allen and Kanda.

The duo stopped arguing as they walked in and sat in the same seats they had yesterday. Allen still had a hood covering up his hair.

"Good morning, Christine," Allen said, smiling with a wave as he passed her to sit down. "How are you this morning?" She shrugged in response. He just smiled at her.

"Class, pay attention!" Mr. Haknoys had finally arrived, entering the classroom just as the bell was screeching. As he started the lecture, Christine did her usual routine of gazing longingly out of the window. Just as she was starting to follow the path of a bird, a piece of paper, folded neatly, landed with a soft _plop_ on her desk. Raising her eyebrows, she gazed back at Allen, who was the only person she could think of who would do something like that. He grinned and motioned for her to open it. Confused, she did so and found a short note written in elegant handwriting.

'_This teacher really sucks at teaching his subject, don't you agree? – A.W'_

Giggling quietly to herself, she wrote back quickly.

'**Yeah. All he does is lecture. I don't even bother paying attention anymore. You have very neat handwriting, by the way. ~ C.N.'** she wrote down before folding it back up and tossing it behind her. Almost immediately, she heard the sound of a pen scratching against paper and she quickly got a reply.

'_Why thank you. So, let's play 20 questions. I want to get to know my new friend better. I'll start. What do you like to do in your spare time? – A.W.'_

'**Umm…Alright, why not? Let's see, I guess what I actually do and what I like to do are two different things entirely. What I like to do is read, sleep, practice the piano (I suck, but that's why they made practice, right?), and walk. What I actually do is clean, cook and spend a vast majority of my time doing homework. What about you? What do you like to do? ~ C.N.'**

'_You play the piano? So do I! Although I'm sure you're not as bad as you say you are. It sucks that you have to do all that other stuff, though I know how you feel. Myself, I enjoy eating, sleeping, training, and being outside. Now let's see…another question. Where do you live? And I'm not trying to be a stalker! It's just the fact that we just moved here, and I want to…yeah. – A.W.'_

After reading it, Christine broke out in silent laugher. He sounded so worried about what she would think of him.

'**It's alright, I don't think you're a stalker, don't worry. I live on Belle Road. It's my turn to ask a question now, right? Well this has been bothering me for a little bit. Why did you and your friends stand by me when Hailee and Kaylie were trash-talking me? Any normal person would've agreed with them and left me. Why didn't you? ~ C.N.'**

As Allen read the note, a frown creased his brow. Why was she so adamant in her thought that they would turn their backs on her? Had it happened so often that it was second nature to you now?

'_We just moved to Belle Road! What house is yours? Ours is the three story at the very end. To answer your other question: we stuck by you because you're our new friend. You always seemed so lonely, so we wanted to give you some company. Turns out you are actually a really cool person to hang out with, even if you don't talk much. And we always stick with our friends. Plus, we've never really been what you can call _normal_. Oh! On a side note, since you live on the same street as us, would you like a ride to and from school? We take turns driving, and I'm sure the others won't mind. – A.W.'_

When Christine read the note Allen had hastily written, she felt the beginnings of tears press against the back of her throat. It had been a long, long time since she had anyone to call a friend. Ever since her father… Shaking herself out of her depressing thoughts, she swiftly wrote back, her handwriting getting messy with the speed she was throwing the words on the page with.

'**I don't think you could possibly understand how happy hearing that makes me feel. You can't imagine how long it's been since I had people to call friends. But I won't hold it against you if you come to your senses and start ignoring me like everyone else. As for the ride, I would love one! It gets tiring, having to walk an hour to get to school when it would take 10 minutes to drive. I would really appreciate it. Oh, and I live three houses down from you, on the right. ~ C.N.'**

She tossed it back again, an elated feeling coursing through her body. It had been a very long time since she had felt this happy, which confused her; seeing as it was something so simple.

'_Alright! We'll talk more at lunch, alright? I'm glad that I could make you feel happy again. –A.W.'_

She read it just as the bell rang, jerking her back to reality. She gathered her stuff quickly and glanced behind her at Allen and Kanda, who had started arguing again, before heading to her next class.

**0-0-0**

As she was on her way to the cafeteria, somewhat apprehensive about meeting with the new trio again, she was cornered between the locker and the forever pink duo, Hailee and Kaylie. They were glaring at her with almost identical sneers on their overly made-up faces. Christine looked up at them; they were towering over her in their four inch heels.

"Listen here, trash bag, you stay away from the new students. They're ours. Plus, they don't really want to be hanging out with you anyway, they're doing it out of pity. You do know that, right?" Hailee told her, trying to be the ever-present dictator as to what goes on in the school.

"They belong to no-one," Christine muttered, flinching back as Kaylie raised her hand, as if to slap her. She gasped as the manicured hand was stopped mid-flight.

"Che. What do you think you're doing?" Kanda had arrived in his usual stoic manner, but his eyes were blazing. Christine looked at him thankfully.

"Um, uh. Well…" Kaylie stuttered out, trying half-heartedly to get her hand back. Kanda looked towards Christine for an explanation, but she just shook her head. He sighed agitatedly and let go of Kaylie's hand as if it was burning him.

"Let's go," he muttered, gesturing for Christine to follow him. She did so quickly, leaving behind a shocked Kaylie and an enraged Hailee. Christine had to almost jog in order to keep up with Kanda's long strides. "What happened?" he asked abruptly, glancing down at her as they entered the cafeteria.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. But, thank you," she said as they sat down at the same table they had occupied the day before. Kanda tsked and pulled out his lunch, which consisted of noodles and a bottle of water.

"It obviously wasn't _'nothing'_," he told her as the other two sat down; Allen had his usual mound of food on his tray while Lavi settled for pizza and a salad.

"What wasn't nothing?" Lavi asked around a mouthful of food.

"She was being cornered by the two blinding hags that came over here yesterday," Kanda said, looking disgusted at the way Lavi was talking with his mouth full.

"What? Why would they do such a thing? Did they hurt you?" Allen asked, looking worriedly at her. She blushed slightly.

"Like I told Kanda, it's nothing. Please, just drop it?" she pleaded.

"Fine," Allen sighed. "Anyway! Guys, Christine here lives three houses down from us, so I offered to take her to and from school. That's not a problem, right?

"Nope! I'd love to!" Lavi said.

"Che," was the reply Kanda gave.

"Great! Well then, just follow Lavi after school, 'kay? It's his turn to drive anyway…" Allen said between mouthfuls of food. It amazed her, how much he ate – and so quickly, too.

"Alright, I really appreciate it," she told them. "So, you three live together, then?"

"Yup! We're all adopted, and Yū and I are both 18, so our guardians allowed us to move in together! Of course, they live about 30 minutes away, but still…" Lavi trailed off, shoveling his pizza into his mouth.

"Don't call me that," Kanda growled, slapping Lavi on the back of the head.

"You're all adopted? That's interesting." Christine said. "And your guardians let you all live in a house together, even though Allen's not 18?"

"Well yeah. My adoptive father…travels a lot, so I've been staying with them for a while," Allen told her. He put a plate of food in front of her. "Here, I don't know what you like, so I got a little bit of everything."

"W-what? You didn't have to do that!" she exclaimed. He smiled.

"But I did anyway. You should eat more, you're so tiny!" he said, grinning at her. Lavi laughed and nodded while she blushed.

"Alright…" she gave in, taking the fork offered to he and starting to eat the food that Allen had given her. "Thank you."

"It's no problem!" Allen told her.

"So…" Lavi started. "Today's Thursday, right?"

"It's Friday, you idiot," Kanda told him as he finished eating.

"Oh! Really now?" Lavi's eyes brightened. "Well then what are we going to do this weekend?" He turned to Christine. "What is there to do around here, anyway?"

"Well…" She thought for a moment. "I don't really know much, since I can't go out on weekends. But there's a mall about 20 minutes from Belle, and a cinema about ten minutes away. I think there's also a park within walking distance too. Then of course, there's all the stores down on Stadium Street," she listed.

"Hmm…Well why don't you see if you can come over this weekend? Then you can show us around!" Lavi suggested. Christine smiled sadly.

"I would love to, believe me I would, but I'm afraid I can't."

"Aww, why not?" he whined, pouting. She giggled slightly; he looked like a small child when he did that. Adorable.

"Because, my mother is a very…strict person. I highly doubt I could persuade her to let me hang out with you guys," she reluctantly told them.

"Hmm…" Allen muttered as he finally finished eating; he was the last one done. "Well, we'll find a way!" he said optimistically. Christine laughed, doubtful. She wasn't even going to mention them to her mother. Lord knows what she would do if Christine as much as suggested her going out on a weekend! Hell, she couldn't ever go out! She was always stuck at home, doing the work her mother never thought about doing. It surprised her that her mother even had a job, with the way she got things done. Of course, this was her third job in seven months, so it was to be expected that she would be fired again shortly. That was something Christine was dreading.

When her mom gets fired, she gets depressed; when she gets depressed, she drinks; when she drinks, she turns violent. As a result, she usually takes her anger out on Christine. The last time her mom got fired, she missed school for a week.

Driven out of her thoughts by the always-obnoxious bell, Christine ignored the semi-concerned looks her new friends were giving her and, after waving distractedly, headed to her next class.

**0-0-0**

Having slept through her previous two classes, Christine tiredly entered her last class. Lavi was sitting in the back of the class, waiting for her. He waved at her energetically and motioned for her to sit down next to him. Yawning, she did so.

"Tired?" he asked, laughing. She nodded and plopped down, setting her head down on her folded arms. "Aww," he said quietly. She looked like a child; a very cute, sleepy child. She yawned again, jumping slightly as the bell rang loudly. Lavi laughed, shaking his head.

"Shut up," the girl grumbled. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Why not?" Lavi questioned.

"'Cause I had to do my homework," she told him, pulling out the homework for the current class she was in. Lavi nodded understandingly as they got to work.

**0-0-0**

An hour and ten minutes later the school bell rang for the last time that day. Both of them stood up and stretched simultaneously.

"So, you're riding home with us today, right?" he asked. Christine nodded and followed him out of the classroom. "Mmkay! Let's go find Allen and Yū then. They should be by their lockers, I think," he said, mostly to himself. She laughed slightly and nodded.

"Alright," she said quietly.

The duo walked swiftly through the crowded hall, coming to a stop as they reached Allen and Kanda, who were arguing once again. At seeing Christine, who was hiding slightly behind Lavi, they stopped abruptly.

"Hello Christy! Do you mind if I call you that?" Allen asked, turning to face her fully. She shook her head.

"No, I don't mind at all," she told him. He grinned at her from under his hood. She wondered why he always had a hood covering his head, and why both he and Lavi wore an eye patch. But her thoughts were along the lines of '_If they want to tell me, then they'll tell me. If not, then they won't. Simple as that.'_

"Good!" he said happily. "So, are you ready to leave?" She nodded in reply and the group made its way out into the school parking lot. Lavi was leading the way, as it was his day to drive.

"It's not much, but it gets us around." He said as they came to a stop in front of a black Endeavor.

"It's nice, I like it," Christine said, getting into the backseat with Allen. As she had predicted, it took around ten minutes to get home. "Thank you," she told them, smiling as she hopped out.

"No problem! Oh, here's our numbers, in case you need something, okay?" Lavi said, scribbling down three numbers on a piece of paper before handing it to her. She stared for a quick moment before taking it and scribbling on a corner and tearing that off.

"Here," she told them quietly.

"Cool! We'll talk to you soon, 'kay? And we'll find a way to get you away sometime this weekend," Allen told her. She smiled softly and waved as they drove the short distance to their house.

**0-0-0**

Right as she entered her house, Christine ran up the stairs to her room and programmed the numbers into her contacts, then put it away securely. When she was finished, she sighed and looked around the house.

'_Well, it's not as messy as it was yesterday.'_ She thought optimistically. _'But I had better clean the whole house, get on her good side for a while.'_

With that thought, she started cleaning the house rigorously. When it was almost sparkling, it was two hours later.

Christine looked at the clock in worry. She still had to cook dinner before her mom came home, or she would be in deep, deep shit. As she finished this thought, she heard the front door slam open.

Her mother was home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Three

* * *

**_Revised_**

Christine was scared. She was very, very scared. Her mother had come home earlier than was expected, and she didn't even have dinner started. This was bad. This was horrible.

"I'm home! Is dinner ready?" her mother questioned as she threw her things on an armchair and strutted into the kitchen, where Christine was trembling as she chopped up vegetables. "Well?"

"N-no, it's not ready," Christine stuttered. "I'm s-sorry! I was cleaning, and it's taken longer than I expected to g-get dinner ready. It should be done in 20 minutes," she hurried to explain. Her mother glared ferociously at her.

"You mean to tell me that after working all day, I'm to come home to an ungrateful brat that can't even cook dinner?" she asked quietly. Christine nodded once, looking at the ground fearfully. "Well now, that simply won't do, will it?" Her mother walked closer, taking both of Christine's shoulders in her manicured hands. "What did I say needed to be done every day before I got home?"

"The h-house needs to be spotless and dinner cooked," Christine mumbled quietly. Her mother was furious. That much she knew for sure. What she didn't know, though, was what punishment she would get.

"Exactly. Now, is all of that done?"

"No."

"And why not?" Her mother's voice was dangerous.

"B-because…I was busy cleaning, a-and I lost track of time and it took longer than I expected to get dinner started," she stuttered.

"Well then, you'll just have to work faster won't you, you ungrateful little brat!" her mother shouted, shaking her roughly. Christine whimpered. "Shut up, you pathetic child!" her mother screamed, slapping her across the face and making her fall to the ground in shock.

"I want you out of my house," her muttered uttered in a low voice. "Get out. I can't deal with this right now." When Christine didn't move, still in too much shock to do much of anything, her mother growled low in her throat and kicked at her stomach. "I said get out!" she roared.

The frightened girl whimpered and quickly stood, giving one last look at her enraged mother before sprinting out of the house. She went to the first place she could think of, the small children's park that was about a ten minute walk from her house. Night was falling, and she was getting scared. Her mother had kicked her out a few times before, but she had never been as angry as Christine had seen her that night. It made her think.

Would she be allowed back inside this time? Or would she be forced to live at the park forever? Sighing sadly, she sat down on one of the swings, kicking her bare feet back and forth. She hadn't even had the time to get shoes on. Thinking on what she would do, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and looked at it thoughtfully. She had friends in Allen, Lavi, and even Kanda – somewhat. But she couldn't call one of them. They didn't need to know what went on in her dysfunctional life. They had plenty of problems on their own, she figured.

Sighing once again, she got off of the swing and walked over to the tunnel that the park had. It wasn't that big, but Christine fit in it well enough. The tunnel was something of a refuge for her; every time her mother kicked her out, or if she just needed a place to get away, she would come to the tunnel. Figuring that it would be her bed once more, she slipped off her hoodie and, ignoring the goose bumps that littered her arms, fashioned it into a crude pillow.

'_I hope it doesn't rain tonight,´_ she thought hopefully. '_I would hate to get wet…And I don't have any clothes to change into._' With that thought, she drifted off into a fretful sleep.

**0-0-0**

Lavi Bookman Jr. was worried. He had seen how his new friend, Christine, had flinched away whenever someone made a sudden movement. He had seen how reluctant she was to talk about her home life. He had even seen the faint bruise she had on her arm when she stretched. He just hoped that his theory, which explained all of it, was wrong.

But then he sighed. It was highly unlikely that his theory was wrong. Lavi had never been wrong in all of his 18 years of life. It just didn't happen to him. Frustrated at himself, he went off in search of Allen. The 16 year old seemed to have formed a fairly strong bond with the girl, and quickly too. Lavi would ask him about it, see what his opinions were.

After checking various rooms in the vast house, Lavi finally found Allen in the large back-yard, hanging upside down from a tree.

"What are you doing?" Lavi questioned, raising an eyebrow at the sight. Allen grunted and pulled himself up in a sit-up like fashion.

"Training," he muttered, flicking his snow-white hair out of his eyes. He was thankful that he didn't have to wear a hoodie around his house. It got pretty annoying.

"Well stop for a second, will ya? I need to talk to you," Lavi said. Allen gracefully flipped off of the branch, landing lightly on his feet.

"Yeah? What about?" he asked. It concerned him that Lavi was being serious for once. He wasn't ever serious unless he thought something was seriously wrong.

"I want to talk to you about Christine," the red-head said quietly. Allen froze.

"What about her?" he asked warily.

"I have suspicions that she may live in an abusive household," his friend said quickly. Allen gaped at him.

"Really? I was thinking about that too," he muttered.

"Really?" Lavi seemed surprised that Allen was being observant enough to notice how Christine acted. "Good. So then you think it's a possibility, too?" Allen nodded. "Then we have to decide what we're going to do. We can't leave her there if she is getting abused."

"That much is obvious. But I think that first, we need to talk to her and try to get her to tell us if she really _is_ being abused," the white-haired teen said thoughtfully. Lavi nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It's only what, eight o'clock? Why don't you call her now and see if she can like, come over or something, while I go talk to Yū," he said as the duo made their way back to the house. "And don't forget to wash up and cover your hair and eye again." Allen nodded and ran up to his room on the third floor.

After getting dressed quickly in a pair of sweats, he reached for his phone and dialed Christine's number quickly.

**0-0-0**

Christine was in the middle of a terrifying nightmare when her phone jerked her harshly back to reality. She groped in her pockets for a minute before she was able to answer, wiping tears from her face as she did so.

"Hello?" she asked hoarsely.

"Christy? Hey, it's Allen." She was shocked, to say the least. Why had he called her?

"Allen? Why did you call me?" she asked.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to come over? Lavi and I want to ask you something."

"Well, I'm not exactly at home right now…" she muttered, looking around at the tunnel she was sitting in.

"Where are you? I'll come get you. It's important."

"I'm uh…at the park."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?" He told her before hanging up.

She stared at the phone in her hand for a second before shoving it back into her pocket and scrambling out of the tunnel. She held her hoodie in her arms tightly while she waited anxiously for Allen to arrive.

She looked up when the familiar black Endeavor pulled alongside her.

"Hey, hop in," Allen said, rolling down the window. For once, his face was not morphed into a smile. On the contrary, his handsome features had concern written all over them. Christine shakily stood up and walked over to the passenger side door, slowly climbing in. "Are you okay?" he asked her softly.

"Yeah," her voice cracked. "Yeah, I'm fine." He shook his head.

"You don't look fine," he muttered to himself as they pulled into his driveway. "C'mon, let's get you inside" he remarked said with a gentle smile, quickly hopping out and opening her door. She took the hand he offered and got out of the vehicle, clutching her hoodie to her body. Allen frowned when he saw the hand-shaped bruises marring her arms.

"Lavi!" he shouted as the two entered the house. "We're back!" The red-haired boy came bouncing down the stairs, Kanda following him at a slower pace, his usual scowl in place.

"Great! C'mon, let's sit down in the living room," he said while disappearing into an adjoining room. Once everyone had taken a seat – Allen and Christine sat next to each other on the sofa, Kanda sat in an armchair off to the side, and Lavi sat across from Christine, on the floor – they spoke.

"Why…Why did you guys want me here?" she asked nervously. Lavi shifted uncomfortably.

"Well…We're worried about you," he admitted. Her eyebrows raised in shock.

"W-what?"

"Are you being abused?" asked Kanda abruptly. Her head shot to him and her eyes misted over.

"We've noticed…" Allen began. "They way you don't like anyone to come near you. We've noticed the bruises on your arms," he said, gently touching one of the said bruises. She flinched back. "We can help you, Christine; but only if you let us."

"I…" Christine managed to get out before she started sobbing. Allen was startled for just a moment before his eyes softened and he drew her into a hug. She froze for just a second, then clung to him as if he were her lifeline. "Please…" she whimpered. "Please help me. I don't want to go back there."

The trio of boys was shocked. Looking at one another, they all came to a simultaneous decision.

"Don't worry, Christy," her lifeline told her lightly. "We'll fix everything. But you need to calm down and tell us exactly what goes on, okay?" She sniffed and nodded, not lifting her head from its place where it was buried in Allen's shoulder.

"Okay, let's calm you down," Lavi said, mostly to himself as he exited the room. He quickly returned with a cup of tea in one hand and a blanket in the other. "Here, drink this. It's just tea with lavender and chamomile in it," he informed her. She raised her head and took the tea as Allen helped Lavi put the blanket around her shoulders. Kanda had left when she had started crying, and he now returned with his arms full of equipment.

"I figured we should record this," he muttered, setting the high-tech recording equipment on the coffee table. Lavi nodded.

"Okay Christine, do you think you're ready to tell us?" he asked, smiling gently at her as she sipped her tea.

"I…think." She nodded.

"Just take your time. We won't push you," Allen told her softly.

"Alright…" she took a deep breath. _'May the gods help me.'_ She thought desperately before beginning her tale. "I guess it all started when my father left. It's kind of clichéd, now that I think about it, but it's true." She chuckled dryly. "I was…10, I think. Yeah, 10 or 11." She thought for a second, sipping her tea again. "My dad thought that my mom was cheating on him – she was, by the way – so he filed for a divorce. After that, they fought to get custody over me. My mother won." She took another breath.

"She seemed to believe that it was all my fault that my father saw through her sluttish ways. She started to make me do things that I had never done before. I had to clean the entire house, every day, to her expectations. I had to do all household chores, and have dinner made by seven every night." She sighed and closed her eyes. Allen gave her an encouraging look and motioned for her to continue.

"What happened next?"

"Well, as you can imagine, it just got worse from there. I couldn't live up to my mother's expectations." She stood up slowly, lifting the back of her shirt up to show them a long scar, about half an inch thick, running from her shoulder blades to the small of her back. The three males blushed at her nakedness – Allen more so than the others – and she resumed her previous position. "I got that the first time I didn't have dinner cooked in time. She threw me into our China cabinet," she told them quietly.

"From then on, I've never really been able to live up to her extremely high expectations. She isn't as bad as she was then; but then again that may just be because she's already broken everything that could be used against me. Mostly now, she yells and slaps me…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"How often does she hit you?" Lavi asked.

"Umm." She thought for a moment, sniffling. "Almost every day," she told them meekly, looking down at her hands. Allen's visible eye hardened in a dangerous manner. Lavi looked at him in worry.

"Allen, calm down," Kanda snapped. Allen glared up at him but visibly relaxed.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. Christine was confused; what did he have to be sorry about?

"Che. I think we're done for today," Kanda said, standing up and shutting off the recording equipment quickly. Lavi and Allen nodded.

"C'mon, Christy." Allen stood, holding a hand out to her. "You can sleep in one of our guest rooms tonight," He told her with a gentle smile.

"Mmkay…I got kicked out anyway," she muttered, hesitantly grabbing onto his hand and allowing him to lead her up to the top floor. Allen raised his eyebrow.

"You got kicked out?"

"Yup. Dinner wasn't ready."

"Oh…Here, this is right beside my room. Just knock on my door if you need anything." He opened the door to a room that had a nice, queen-sized bed, dark dresser and matching desk.

"Umm," she blushed slightly. "Could I maybe borrow something to sleep in?" she asked. He blushed in return.

"Of course. Just one sec," he said, running into his room and quickly returning with a pair of black sleep pants and a plain black t-shirt. "They'll be too big on you, so sorry," he said sheepishly as he handed them to her. She smiled slightly.

"It's alright. Thank you, Allen," she said. "And not just for the sleepwear."

"It's no problem," he told her with a genuine grin. She giggled softly, hugging him quickly before disappearing into the guest room, leaving him standing there in shock.

"Hehe, Allen's got himself a crush~" Lavi sang as he ran past.

"W-what? Lavi!" Allen shouted, running after him.

Christine giggled at their antics as she changed and slipped in between the sheets.

'_I'm glad that I met them_' She thought before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Four

* * *

**_Revised_**

Someone was screaming.

Shooting up into a sitting position, Christine looked around in confusion. Someone was screaming, and it woke her up. Sliding out of the bed she was occupying, she listened carefully. Where was it coming from?

Opening the door that led out into the hallway, she finally realized that the screaming was coming from the room next to hers. _'Allen_?' She thought frantically, rushing to his door and knocking forcefully before barging in.

"Allen!" she said worriedly. Said boy was tangled up in his sheets, thrashing around fretfully. Walking closer, she was shocked when she saw his finally uncovered face. His snow white hair was damp with sweat and clinging to his flushed face. Getting even closer, her hands flew up to cover her mouth when she laid eyes on the red scar that lined the left side of his face, from his forehead to the bottom of his cheek. "Oh, Allen…" she whispered.

"M-Mana!" he whimpered.

"Shh, it's alright," Christine whispered, sitting on the edge of his bed and drawing him up into a hug. Allen froze, waking up abruptly.

"W-what?" he whimpered, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes. "Christy?"

"Yeah. I'm here, Allen," she told him with a gentle smile. His eyes re-filled and he clung to her like a small child, sobbing into her shoulder. She just held him, allowing him to cry.

"W-why?" Allen whispered when he had calmed down slightly, about ten minutes later. She rubbed his back reassuringly.

"Because, you needed someone," she said simply. "You were there for me earlier, so it's only right that I be there for you when I can."

"Thank you," he said tearfully. She shook her head.

"It's my pleasure," she said with a smile. "Are you okay now?" She made to stand up.

"Please," he pleaded. "Don't leave me," he begged, clutching her arm to him. Her eyes softened and she nodded.

"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere," she reassured, sitting down and drawing him closer to her. "Go back to sleep," she coaxed. He nodded and yawned, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling his head into her shoulder. She blushed brilliantly and covered their bodies with his blanket and setting into a more comfortable position; they fell asleep quickly.

**0-0-0**

"Aww, Yū, look at them! Aren't they cute~" Christine woke up to the sound of a camera shutter closing. Opening her eyes wearily, she groaned and snuggled herself closer to her pillow. She froze. Her pillow snuggled back. Yelping, she threw herself ungracefully away from it, consequently falling off of the bed. Hearing a loud groan, followed quickly by the sound of laughter, she groggily opened her eyes.

"Che. Idiot," Kanda muttered before exiting. Lavi, still laughing hysterically, helped her stand up.

"So, how did you end up in here?" he questioned.

"U-umm…" she stuttered, unsure of what to say.

"I had another nightmare," Allen said tiredly, sitting up. "Christy heard me screaming and came in to comfort me. She fell asleep. Simple as that," He said, staring blankly at Lavi.

"Oh, Allen…" Lavi said sympathetically. "I didn't know."

"It's okay. It's better that way anyways," Allen said, smiling at him falsely. Lavi sighed.

"Well, thank you for comforting him, Christine," he said. Christine, who had been dozing off, jerked awake.

"It's no problem. I know what it's like to be plagued by nightmares," she said softly, folding her hands in front of her.

"Anyway!" Lavi shouted suddenly, making the other two jump in shock. "Why don't you two get dressed, and we'll have breakfast, then we'll go and explore around town, like we planned!"

"Umm, alright," the young girl said. "But, I don't have any clothes," she told them, cheeks reddening.

"You can borrow some of mine," Allen replied immediately.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, blushing. Smirking, Lavi waved before disappearing out of the room. Christine finally got a good look at the uncovered Allen. Seeing her stare, he sighed and ran the fingers of his left arm, which, she noticed, was a dark red color as if it had been badly burned, across the scar across his eye.

"I…" he paused. "I was in an accident when I was little," he told her softly.

"I-I'm sorry, Allen. I shouldn't have –" He cut her off.

"Don't apologize. It's human nature to be curious," he replied gently. She nodded, blushing. "Maybe I'll tell you the whole story, one day soon," he said as he got up out of bed and over to his walk-in closet.

"Here, these should fit you alright," he said, handing her a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved red t-shirt that he had long since outgrown.

"Thank you," she said softly before retreating to her room to get changed.

**0-0-0**

"Breakfast is ready!" Lavi called out, the shout echoing throughout the house.

"Shut up," Kanda said as he made his appearance, sitting down at the round kitchen table.

"Whatcha make today, Lavi?" Allen asked as he took his seat next to Kanda, shooting the Asian a glare as he did so.

"Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast!" Lavi said with his usual grin as he set the platters of food on the table. "Come on in, Christine," he grinned when he noticed her hesitating by the door. Smiling shyly, she walked into the kitchen and took a seat next to Allen, leaving Lavi to sit in between her and Kanda. "Dig in!"

Everybody finished eating fairly quickly. Allen, as usual, finished last. Christine, not used to eating breakfast, had eaten very little and therefore stopped eating first; she sat at the table quietly with folded hands.

"Hey, Christine," Lavi said, getting up and placing his plate in the sink. "Where do you wanna go first?"

"Umm…We could go to the mall first, if you wanted."

"That sounds fun!" Allen said. Christine was slightly confused. He was acting like nothing had happened at all last night. Now that she thought of it, so were Kanda and Lavi. She was now thoroughly confused; why were they acting like both Christine and Allen didn't have breakdowns last night? Was it a normal occurrence for Allen, happening so often that they just ignored it now? Or were they just trying to be nice and not bring anything up that may result in another breakdown?

"Che. Hurry up Moyashi," Kanda said, getting up and leaving the kitchen swiftly.

"Moyashi?" She asked in confused. Wasn't that Japanese?

"It means 'bean sprout' in Yū's native language," Lavi said while laughing. "At home, he tends to speak it more often, so don't worry if you can't understand him." She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not a bean sprout," Allen grumbled, placing his dished in the sink. "It's not _my _fault that I haven't hit my growth-spurt just yet." He continued to mutter to himself as he walked out.

"Umm…"

"Don't worry about him," Lavi said, grinning. "It's always been like that between those two. Deep down, they care about each other's well being. Very, _very_ deep down," he told her. "It's usually worse after Allen has one of his nightmares, though," he said softly, eyes downcast. "It's Kanda's way of cheering him up, getting him to not think about it." So, they _were_ just ignoring it, but to help Allen.

"Oh..Does Allen have nightmares often?" she asked in curiosity. The red-head sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, unfortunately. It gets as bad as every night, some weeks."

"Really?" she asked in surprise. That was horrible…Every night? "Poor Allen…"

"Yeah, he's had a pretty nasty life so far…That's one of the reasons why we've moved here. To try and get away from everything that haunts us, even if it's just for a while," he admitted with a sad smile. Her brow furrowed. So she was right; they didn't need to worry themselves with her problems; they had more than enough to worry themselves about. Especially Allen…

"I'm sorry Lavi," she began quietly. "But I've just realized that I have to get home. Mother doesn't like it if I don't come back the next day," she finished abruptly. His eyes widened in shock.

"W-what? You can't go back there!" he protested loudly.

"I have to. Thank you, for being so kind to me, even if it was for only one night," she said, giving him a small smile before jumping up and running out of the house.

"Hey Lavi, where's Christy?" Allen asked, walking back into the kitchen a few minutes later. Lavi didn't answer him, instead staring at the place Christine had disappeared, visible eye wide with shock. "Lavi? What happened?" Allen asked, voice shaking.

"She…she left," Lavi said softly.

"W-what?"

"She left, Allen. Ran right out of the house," Lavi said, getting angry. _'How dare she?_' he thought aggressively. _'I tell her personal info, and she runs right out of our house!'_

"Why?" Allen asked him. "Why did she leave, Lavi? She can't go back to her house! Who knows what her mom'll do to her!" His voice lowered. "And…she made the nightmares go away," Lavi's eyes widened. No one had been able to stop Allen's nightmares; they had just been able to wake him from them.

"I told her why we moved here, Allen," Lavi told him, making the younger boy's eyes widen. "I told her that you have had nightmares. I told her that our lives have been far less than perfect. And she ran," he said bitterly.

"Why would she run?" Allen asked weakly. "I thought she, of all people, would understand."

"Yeah, well she ran instead."

"What are you two whining about?" Kanda asked as he returned.

"Christy left," the white-haired boy told him with sad eyes.

"What? She can't go back to that house," Kanda said with shocked eyes.

"Well she did. Told her some stuff and what does she do with it? She runs," Lavi told him, face devoid of its usual happy expression.

"Che. You knew her for two days. She managed before, she can do it again. So can we," Kanda said with a note of finality before spinning on his heel and striding up the stairs to his room. Allen smiled falsely.

"He's right for once, Lavi," he said sadly before climbing the stairs and locking himself in his own room. The red-headed youth sighed.

"Yeah…I just wish I knew why she ran after everything she told us."

**0-0-0**

Christine felt tears well up in her eyes as she slowed to a walk at the bottom of her driveway. She had finally found people she could maybe – just _maybe_ – call friends, and she couldn't even keep them. She sniffed, thinking about the problems that they had to deal with. '_They didn't need to have to worry about a worthless girl who can't even protect herself in her own home_'

Slowly opening the front door, she looked around immediately for her mother. As she had expected, and hoped, her mother was passed out on the couch, empty beer cans and a wine bottle or two surrounding her. Christine sighed in relief and quietly closed the door behind her. She figured she had at least an hour until her mother regained consciousness. In the mean time, she decided to clean the house as quietly as she could. If her mother wakes up to a clean house, food, and painkillers, her punishment would hopefully be less severe.

**0-0-0**

An hour and a half of cleaning and cooking later, she heard the telltale signs of her mother waking up. By the sound of it, she had a massive hangover. '_Good thing I put the strong painkillers on the table_' Christine thought as she scooped spaghetti onto a plate for her mother.

"Oi, Brat. You here?" she heard her mother call hoarsely.

"Y-yes, Mother," she replied nervously, walking into the living room with the plate of food held out in front of her as sort of peace offering.

"Oh, good. I see you already made lunch," she said, greedily snatching the plate and beginning to stuff her face. Christine nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground. If she was lucky, her mother had forgotten all about kicking her out last night.

"Yes," she said, watching her mother practically inhale the food she had prepared.

"For once, you're not totally worthless!" her mother said it as if it was the greatest compliment in the world. For her, it pretty much was. Christine nodded once more. "Did you clean the whole house?"

"Yes, mother," she told her quietly. Her mother nodded.

"Good, good. Now, I want you to do the laundry, the dishes, and vacuum. I'm going out in half an hour."

"Yes, mother."

"I expect it to be done by the time I get home."

"Yes, mother."

"I should be home around midnight. Is that clear?" her mother demanded, standing up.

"Yes, mother," the young girl repeated, bowing as was expected from her. Her mother nodded and strode past her, marching up the stairs. Christine sighed in relief as her mother disappeared into her bedroom. "I can't believe she didn't say anything about last night," she mumbled to herself as she picked up her mother's dirty dish and went to clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes.

When she was finished with them, making sure that they were done to her mother's amazingly high standards, she started the laundry and vacuumed, hiding from her mother when she left the house.

"Well, I better do my homework, this may be the only chance I get to do it," the blonde said to herself after she had finished her assigned chores and had pre-cooked dinner. Quickly running up the stairs, it was only when she saw her reflection in the dusty mirror that hung on her wall that she realized she was still wearing the clothes that Allen had given her. Her eyes misted over as she thought about it.

"Why do I have to be cursed?" she muttered sadly, sitting down at her small desk and pulling out her homework. "Why can't I just have a peaceful home life and friends? That's all I really want."

**0-0-0**

"Allen, please come out!" Lavi pleaded from his place outside of Allen's door. The distraught boy had not come out since he had locked himself in after Christine's leave, and Lavi was worried.

"No," Allen muttered, but he knew Lavi had heard him. He was in the middle of his bedroom, doing one handed pushups as he had been doing all day. He switched to sit-ups when his arms started trembling too violently to hold him up properly.

"Allen, you have to let it go!" Lavi shouted.

"No! You don't understand!"

"So you had a crush on her, big deal! It'll fade!" Lavi made the mistake of saying. Allen yanked his door open and glared ferociously at the taller boy.

"It's not as simple as that, Lavi," he said with tears forming in his eyes.

"She made the nightmares go away."


	5. Chapter 5

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter 5

* * *

**_Revised_**

Christine was still working on her homework when her mother came home. She had obviously not done well at the casino, if the slamming of doors and stomping of feet gave anything away. Christine shivered in fear, hoping her mother would just bypass her room and go to sleep. She had no such luck.

"You worthless girl!" her mother yelled as she slammed the door to Christine's room open, leaving an indentation in the wall. "Did you think I'd forgotten about your little stunt last night?" she screeched, pulling the frightened girl out of her chair by the hair. "Well? Answer me!" she roared. Christine could smell the alcohol on her putrid breath. Shaking her head frantically, she prayed her mother wouldn't be too hard on her that night. Unfortunately, her prayers went unanswered.

Her mother was still screaming nonsense at her while she got dragged out of the room. Words like 'worthless', 'scum', and 'all your fault' fell harshly from her drunken mother's lips. As Christine was pulled into the living room, her eyes immediately scanned the room, searching for anything that could be used to hurt her. Her eyes widened when she saw the belt, seemingly innocent, thrown across the back of the couch.

'_Oh no…'_

When her mother saw her fearful eyes transfixed on the leather belt, she grinned maliciously. "I see you've noticed what you're going to meet tonight," she sneered. She pushed Christine onto her knees and quickly snatched the belt up in her hands. Bringing the belt down on Christine, she laughed maniacally as the first of many screams ripped from Christine's throat.

**0-0-0**

When Monday came, Christine had only gotten three hours of sleep, having been in too much pain to let herself drift off. As she silently slipped out of her house, backpack slung painfully over her shoulder, she was – for once – glad to be going to school. Especially because it meant getting away from her myother. Sighing, and throwing a depressed look towards the three story house down the street, she limped towards school.

'_It's a good thing I left earl,_' she thought as she arrived on time, but at a much slower pace than usual. As she walked through the crowded hallways to her first class, she avoided everyone's eyes more so than usual; she winced every time someone touched her.

The depressed girl sighed in relief as she sank into her seat at the back of the class. Putting her head on the desk, she froze when she realized that she would have to face Allen, Kanda and Lavi at some point in the day. '_What am I going to do?'_ she thought fearfully. '_I just ran out like that…Oh gods, what if they think I ran because of what Lavi told me?'_ She realized that her timing couldn't have been worse. _'Oh gods…'_

As Allen and Kanda walked into the room just as the bell rang, Christine hid her face in her arms, praying they wouldn't try to talk to her. On the contrary, the two boys completely ignored her, sitting two rows in front of her. Allen sent her a desperate glance as he sat down, as if hoping that what Lavi had told him was fake. When he saw her with her head buried in her arms, he didn't know what to think. She looked almost in pain, but she couldn't be, could she? He thought for a moment as Mr. Haknoys started his lecture. Unless her mother did something to her after she got home…Now that he thought about it, the idea wasn't that absurd.

Sighing, Allen tried, and failed, to pay attention to the lesson. '_Why does everything have to turn out for the worse when it concerns us?' _he thought as he too buried his head into his arms. Kanda sighed agitatedly. He was tired of Allen acting like this all weekend.

"Oi, Moyashi," he whispered harshly. Allen looked at him languidly. "Why don't you just talk to her? Get her side," he said, crossing his arms and glaring at the younger boy. Allen blinked slowly before his face broke into a small smile.

"Thanks, BaKanda," he said quietly. "I hadn't thought of that before."

"Che. Obviously." Allen glared once more before getting out a piece of paper to take notes.

"I'm gonna talk to her at lunch. Keep Lavi distracted for me?"

"Che."

"I'll take that as a yes."

**0-0-0**

Lunch break found Christine walking painfully into the cafeteria. Or at least, that's what she was trying to do. Instead, Allen blocked her path, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"A-Allen?" she whispered, her throat sore from all of the screaming she had done.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked quickly, looking over his shoulder to see where Lavi was.

"U-umm…" she nodded hesitantly, unsure of what he wanted.

"Good, c'mon, let's go outside." She followed him as quickly as she could in her current condition.

"W-what's wrong?" she questioned softly.

"I should be the one asking that. Christy, why'd you run?" he asked, looking at her with sad eyes. She looked at the ground, sighing.

"You…you guys h-have enough problems of your own. You don't need to worry about mine," she told him softly. His eyes widened and a smile stretched across his face, which was again covered.

"Is that why you ran? Because you didn't want us to worry about you?" he asked. She nodded reluctantly. "We wouldn't have asked if we weren't ready to take it on, Christy," he said with a smile. Her eyes misted over and she smiled brightly at him.

"Really? Thank you, Allen." She told him.

"I've told you before, it's not a problem. So c'mon, let's go get lunch." He grabbed her hand and walked quickly into the cafeteria; he didn't see the pained expression on her face.

When Lavi saw them enter, he glared harshly at Christine. _'Why is Allen bringing her over here,' _ he thought angrily. When it came to his friends, Lavi was very protective.

"Calm down, Lavi. I talked to her, and it was just a misunderstanding," the white-haired boy said. As Christine took her usual spot, he quickly explained the situation.

"Damn. Now I feel like a jackass," Lavi whined. He turned to the girl with pleading eyes – eye? "I'm so, so, so sorry!" he said. "Please forgive me!"

"Don't worry about it," she told him with a forced smile, her voice cracking. "Everybody makes mistakes sometimes."

"But still! I should have thought of all the possibilities!"

"Che. Just shut the hell up already," Kanda said, glaring as usual at him. Lavi quieted and buried his face in his food.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get food," Allen sang, standing up and almost running to get into the food line. Quickly he returned carrying his usual vast amount of food. "Here ya go, Christy! I got you some pizza." He put a tray in front of her.

"Oh…" She blinked. "Thanks," she muttered. She hadn't been able to eat anything since the night her mother beat her, so she was starving. Allen seemed shocked that she had so readily accepted his offering.

"It's no problem. I told you, you're too skinny!" he said playfully, grinning at her. Lavi and Kanda watched the two exchange a playful banter as they ate; they were somewhat shocked at how easily Allen and Christine had become friends.

Lavi sighed though. He could see the way she walked today; as far as he could tell, she hadn't had a pleasant time when she got home.

"So, you're coming home with us today, right?" he asked abruptly, startling the two youngest. Christine thought for a moment.

"Ummm…I don't know if I should. My mom hasn't really been in the best of moods lately," she told them quickly.

"What?" Allen dropped his fork. "Did she hurt you anymore?"

"Y-yeah," she admitted softly, looking down at the table. Allen's eyes narrowed.

"You're coming home with us," he said, leaving no room for any protest. "And we're going to go to the police and we're going to get you away from your mother." His eyes softened. "You aren't going to go back there, Christy."

"A-Allen…" she stuttered. Looking at the determined expressions on all three faces, she didn't dare protest. Slowly, a smile took over her face. "Alright."

**0-0-0**

"Okay, I know this will be hard, but will you let us take pictures of your scars and bruises for evidence?" Lavi asked her. They were all sitting some place in the boys' living room. Christine blushed, but nodded.

"I'll do anything, as long as I don't have to go back to that place ever again," she said resolutely. Allen grinned.

"That's the spirit!" he cheered. "So, uh…Do you care who takes the pictures? Or, do you want to go in a separate room, or-"

"Allen," she said firmly, cutting him off. "I don't care who takes the pictures, and we can take them right here," she told him.

"O-okay." He stammered.

"So, where are the majority of the marks?" Lavi asked.

"On my back."

"Mmkay, so if you don't mind, err…" He turned red. "Taking off your shirt, it would be helpful." She nodded and did as he said, taking off her baggy hoodie and long-sleeved shirt slowly. Her once pale skin had become mottled with bruises of varying sizes, shapes and colors. She had on a plain purple bra, which she covered with her arms self-consciously.

"It's alright, Christy." Allen smiled reassuringly.

"Will you turn around for me? I need some shots of your back." Lavi, who had been taking pictures since he could see marks, said. She wordlessly turned around, exposing her back, which was the worst part of her body. The belt had left large welts all across her back. Some of them were still encrusted in dried blood.

"Why haven't you cleaned them?" Kanda asked, eyes narrowed. She blushed again.

"Well, I can't exactly reach or see them, and I don't have anything to clean them with, either," she said nervously.

"Che. Rabbit, are you done?" Lavi nodded, going through the pictures he had taken intently. "Good. Then come with me. I'll clean them." Kanda muttered before spinning on his heel and striding from the room. Christine quickly followed him into a bathroom. He gestured for her to sit on the toilet and she did so, her sensitive back facing him. "This may sting," he warned her.

She clenched her eyes shut and tried not to flinch as he carefully wiped the blood away with a rag that was damp with hydrogen peroxide. After a few short minutes, she felt him placing what felt like a very large Band-Aid over the worse of them.

"That should do for now," the eternally-agitated Asian said as he stood up. "Just don't move your back around too much; it could re-open them," he told her. Christine nodded and slowly stood up.

"Thank you," she said quietly, looking down at the ground. Kanda scoffed.

"Don't mention it. Just don't let it happen again, and we'll be fine." He said before walking out of the bathroom and entering the living room where Allen and Lavi were. Christine followed after him with her arms crossed over her stomach self-consciously.

"Does it feel better now, Christy?" Allen asked her with a grin. She nodded and sat carefully on the edge of the sofa. "That's great!"

"Y-yeah…" she muttered. "Can…Can I put my shirt back on now?" she asked. Both Lavi and Allen blushed. Lavi handed her t-shirt back to her, and she quickly slipped it over her head. "So…what do we do now?"

After thinking silently for a few minutes, it was Allen that decided.

"Well, why don't we got get something to eat, and them go to the police. The sooner we get this over with, the better. Christy, you can stay with us again tonight, 'kay?" He grinned at her. "We won't let them separate us from you."

"Of course, always thinking about food, Allen," Lavi sighed, a playful grin on his face. "But I agree with him. Now that we have actual evidence, your mom should be out of your life in no time!"

"Thanks, you guys. Thank you so much. You can't imagine how much I appreciate this," Christine said sincerely, smiling a genuine smile.

"Well, better get it over with!" Allen shouted, standing up. "Let's go get fooooood! I'm in the mood for some Chinese," he said, grabbing Christine's hand and leading her outside.

"Oi! It's my turn to drive!" Lavi shouted, sprinting after them and snatching the keys Allen had in his hands. The white-haired boy pouted, but got in the back seat after Christine.

"Let's go~"

**0-0-0**

After getting a considerable amount of food at a Chinese buffet, the group silently made their way into the police station.

"Hello~" The head officer, Komui Lee sang.

"Hey," the three boys said in unison.

"What can I do for you boys?" he asked. Christine was hiding behind Allen, and therefore couldn't be seen.

"Well, we have a problem…" Allen said, stepping to the side and allowing Komui to see Christine. His face went from carefree to serious in a matter of moments.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"She's living in an abusive home," Lavi said solemnly. Komui's eyes hardened almost imperceptibly.

"I see," he said quietly. "Well then, if you'll follow me, we'll talk in my office." He led them through the station and into a very messy office. "Take a seat." He gestured to two chairs across from his own. Lavi sat down in one and Allen gestured for Christine to do the same while he stood behind her. Kanda set the camera and recorder on Komui's desk and went to stand by the door.

"I trust that this is your evidence?" the Head Officer asked, picking up the camera.

"Yup," Lavi told him, leaning back in his chair.

"Very well." Komui turned on the camera and began to sift through the pictures slowly. When he was through, he looked up at Christine with sad eyes. "Who did all of this to you?"

She took a deep breath.

"My mother."


	6. Err

Okay, so I'm going to be re-vamping this. I was re-reading chapter one, and I saw plenty of mistakes! To everyone who is still interested, please check back regularly! I will post another Author's note once I have updated all of them.

In the mean time, I will work my hardest on updating this story. I have let it set for far too long!

Also, check out my fictionpress account! Username is the same, Zayren Heart, and I have a completed story up on there for you all to read. Also, check out my Transformers fanfics!

I am also taking one-shot requests.

ZH


	7. Chapter 6

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter 6

* * *

**A/N:** _Here it is guys. I'm so sorry that it took me a _year_ to update this story! I just...grew kind of bored with it, I guess. But I finally have! I'm sorry that it's so much shorter than my usual, but I thought that this was a good place to stop. In the next chapter, Christine's mother comes back._

_Also, I have revised the previous chapters, so I advise you to go back and re-read them._

_Please review._

_-ZH_

* * *

Christine was nervous. Head Officer Komui was currently looking through the evidence that they had given him. He had also listened to the recording of her telling her story.

"Alright. It helps us out a lot that you already have valid evidence." Komui said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "But I'm afraid that we'll have to see it for ourselves. If you're uncomfortable with that, my assistant and little sister can be the one with you." He said with a smile. She nodded.

"A-and, can Allen come with me?" She asked, blushing. Allen had been the one to be with her through everything so far, and she trusted him the most.

"Of course." Komui said, a little shocked that she wanted a guy with her when she was half naked. "Now, if you'll follow me, we'll go into an examination room." He stood up and walked out into the hallway. "Lenalee will meet you in here."

Allen led the way into the examination room with a slight blush still present on his cheeks. He didn't know that Christine had trusted him _that_ much; it made him happy.

They only had to wait for a minute before the door opened and a young girl that looked about a year older than Allen walked in.

"Hello! You must be Christine and Allen, right?" She said happily. "My name is Lenalee Lee." She introduced herself with a small bow.

"It's nice to meet you." Allen said with a small smile, ever the gentleman.

"Great! Now, I know you don't want to be here, but do you think you could remove your shirt for me, Miss Christine?" Lenalee asked. Christine nodded and with a quick look at Allen, stripped herself of her shirt gently, still wary of her wounds. "Oh dear…" Lenalee said in a voice filled with sympathy.

"D-do you just need to take some pictures?" Christine asked.

"No." The small Chinese girl shook her head. "We already have those. I just needed to see them. A kind of reassurance, I guess you could say." Christine nodded in understanding.

"Alright."

"You can put your shirt back on, I'm done." Lenalee said softly. She nodded and quickly slipped the shirt over her head.

"Are we done now?" Allen asked, standing behind Christine.

"Yep! You can follow me back to my brother's office." She told them. They followed her back to Komui's office, where Lavi and Kanda were waiting.

"You're done already?" Lavi asked with raised eyebrows as the three walked into the room.

"Yes!" Lenalee said. "My name is Lenalee Lee, I don't think we've met before."

"Well that was quick. My name's Lavi! And the stiff over there is Kanda." He introduced. She nodded and bowed.

"Well, now that my darling Lenalee has gotten the proof we needed, all that we need to do is question your mother," Komui told Christine.

"U-um, will I need to be there?" she asked him.

"I'm afraid so," he said with a small frown. "But don't you worry!" he exclaimed with a grin on his face. "She can't hurt you anymore! We'll look around for a place for you to live in the meanwhile."

"Actually, we'd like it if she could just stay with us," Lavi piped up. "She's been living with us for a few days already."

Komui thought for a long moment. "I'll see what I can do. She's obviously attached to you, and with what she's definitely been through I don't want her to be put with a random family," he told Lavi quietly. The red-head nodded and smiled thankfully.

"That's all I'm asking. We've become pretty attached ourselves."

"Well then!" The Head Officer clapped his hands together. "I'll have my men go and apprehend your mother, and we'll let you know when to come in, alright? For now, why don't you guys head home. I bet it's been a really stressful day." After saying a quick goodbye, the group hurried out of the police station.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Lavi asked as he hopped into the driver's seat.

"We could go look around town," Allen suggested. "Isn't that what we were planning on doing anyway?"

"Yeah, you have a point there. What do you two think?" Lavi asked Kanda and Christine.

"Che. I don't care," Kanda muttered, crossing his arms and glaring out of the window. Christine shrugged.

"I don't care; I'd be happy to show you guys whatever you wanna see," she said.

"Great! I say we hit up the mall first!" The ecstatic driver replied loudly with a grin.

"Well, it's about a twenty minute drive," the blonde girl told them. "You just stay on Memorial, and turn right on 71st."

"Kay, just tell me where to turn!"

A few directions later, the group was looking for a parking space in the large lot. Once they found one, Lavi swung into it quickly and they all piled out of the vehicle. Stretching, Allen stepped up beside Christine.

"So, what are your favorite stores?" he asked, trying to get a conversation going. She merely shrugged.

"I don't really go shopping much…" Seeing the shocked look on their faces, she elaborated. "Well, it's not like I had money to go shopping _with_." The boys nodded in understanding.

"Well then, we'll just have to buy you some new clothes, won't we?" the white-haired boy said with a grin. A horrified look crossed the girl's face.

"Uh, no…I d-don't think so," she muttered, moving away from the grinning boy. He just shook his head and grabbed her hand, not seeing the red that spread across her cheeks because of it.

Hours passed with them in the mall, and finally, the group emerged, everyone's arms laden with bags of different shapes, colors and sizes. Surprisingly, everyone – including Kanda – had had fun inside the large building. After seeing that resistance was futile, Christine finally allowed herself to be Lavi and Allen's dress-up doll. Mostly Lavi though. He claimed that she was the little sister he had never had. He said it in such a way, though, that she didn't know whether to be flattered or insulted. Eventually, she realize that the enthusiastic red head was acting much like a surrogate brother to her. And she enjoyed it.

The group lugged their bags to the Endeavor and managed to shove them all into the back. Somehow. Kanda pushed Lavi out of the way when he tried to get into the driver's side again. "Back off, I'm driving," the Asian told him sternly. The drive back to the boys' home was mostly silent; everyone had been thoroughly exhausted by the shopping spree. When they had arrived home, Allen shooed Christine up to the door.

"A lady shouldn't have to carry her own bags," he explained his actions with a small smile. Her heart melted.

'_What is this…Could I actually have _feelings_ for Allen?'_ she thought desperately. _'This isn't good. _


	8. Chapter 7

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Seven

* * *

**0-0-0**

* * *

The next morning, Christine woke up earlier than usual. Looking at the clock, she realized that it was only 4:3o in the morning. Sighing, she pushed the covers off of her body, shivering slightly at the sudden change in temperature. Looking around at the room she had been given at the boys' house, she briefly wondered how they were able to afford a house that large. Shrugging it off, she got out of bed and stretched.

Tugging down the long shirt that Allen had loaned her to sleep in, she opened her door as quietly as she could. The last thing she wanted was for someone to wake up because of her. She tip-toed down the stairs.

"482…483…484…" she heard someone counting. Curious, she followed the voice until she came to the door that led to the backyard. She opened the back door as quietly as she could, peeking her head out and looking around at the large, green backyard. What she saw surprised her, immensely.

Allen was on one hand, doing push-ups and looking like he wasn't doing a thing. According to the number, though – which was now 491 – he had been at it for quite a while. Christine closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, but his eyes snapped up to meet her anyways.

"Hello, Christine," he said with a smile. "500." As he reached that number, he stopped and brought his legs over, standing up.

"Good morning, Allen," she said, her eyes still wide. "What…erm, what are you doing?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Training," he told her. She raised her eyebrows.

"Training? What for?"

He shrugged in answer and she laughed slightly. "What are you doing up this early?" he asked her, toweling off his neck as he made his way towards her.

"I don't…actually know," she shrugged. "I just woke up early, I guess. So I decided to come see if anyone else was up." Allen nodded. "Also…what would you like for breakfast?" she asked hesitantly. Christine wanted to make the boys breakfast, but she didn't know if they were alright with her rooting through their kitchen. To her amusement, though, Allen's eyes widened in hope, and his stomach growled as if on a cue.

"Really?" he asked happily, practically bouncing in joy.

"Really really," the blonde said with a small smile. She definitely hadn't expected the silver-haired boy to react with such…enthusiasm.

"That's great! Usually I have to cook for myself," said boy told her with an adorable pout.

Christine was glad that she had finally gotten a chance to do something in return for the people that had done so much for her. What she didn't expect, however, was how much she had to make for just _one_ person! It made her wonder where, exactly, Allen put all of the food in inhaled.

He had finished three plates of food when Lavi and Kanda made their appearances, looking as if they had also been awake for a while, and fully dressed in casual clothing. The two took their usual seats at the table and waited.

"Well, well! This is a pleasant change," Lavi said with a wide smile, his one eye twinkling at Christine. "What's for breakfast?" he asked.

"Umm," she looked at the various plates of food she had scattered around the counter tops. "I made pancakes, eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, crêpes, fried potatoes, and some white rice," she told them, gesturing to the food.

"Great!" The red head jumped up from his seat and got a plate out from the cabinets, piling it high with food. Kanda sighed, rolling his eyes in irritation.

"Thank you," he muttered as he got his own plate and put a minimal amount of food on it. She smiled up at him, nibbling on a piece of toast.

"So, um…When do you think Officer Komui will call us back to the police station?" she asked quietly, wiping her hands on the jeans she had thrown on before cooking breakfast. Lavi swallowed before replying.

"It will probably be today. Child abuse is a big thing, they'll want to get it settled quickly," he said with a small smile in her direction. Allen nodded, his cheeks bulging comically with food.

"Plus, Komui knows us so he'll definitely get right on that," Allen said. Christine cocked her head. The trio of boys knew Komui? That was news to her.

"You guys know him?" she asked. She didn't see Kanda and Lavi give Allen a disapproving glare or him shrug helplessly. She was too busy looking at the floor.

"Uh, yeah you could say that," The silver headed boy said meekly.

"Really? How? I mean, if you don't mind me asking." She wondered how three seemingly simple people knew someone of such high caliber.

"Er, well my guardian introduced me, and when I met Kanda and Lavi, they already knew him, so…" Allen explained, a light blush staining his cheeks. She nodded.

"Okay," she replied, and left it at that.

* * *

**0-0-0**

* * *

The day passed by slowly. It was a Sunday, and therefore they didn't have school. Kanda wasn't seen after breakfast, he had went straight back upstairs to his room after washing and putting away his dishes. Lavi had simply put his in the sink and sat down on the couch, popping in a Harry Potter disk. He hadn't moved since, except to make himself some popcorn. He was now on the third movie. Allen had decided to keep Christine company for the day, and the two had gone to the massive backyard and sat on the bench swing that had been there when the boys moved in.

"So, are you out here every morning working out?" Christine asked him, dragging her toes on the grass as Allen pushed them back and forth. His answer was interrupted by a shrill ring coming from his pocket.

"Erm, hold on a sec," he excused himself as he pulled a Blackberry from his pocket, accepting the call and walking a little ways away. "Hello," he greeted the person on the phone. As the person on the other end of the line answered back, Christine saw Allen's eyes widen marginally, before his face slipped back to a cool façade. "Understood. We'll be there shortly."

He slapped on a smile as he turned back to the blonde still on the swing. "Well, are you ready to go back down to the police station? That was Komui, they have your mother in custody," he informed her. Christine's eyes widened and she nodded slowly, pushing herself up off of the bench.

"Um, yes. Are we going now, or…" she trailed off. Allen took her hand in his and led her back to the house, calling for Kanda and Lavi to hurry their asses up and get in the car, that they had to go back to the station.

As the four of them left to finally settle the matter with her mother, Christine couldn't help but notice how perfectly her hand fit into the silver headed boy's.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm terrible sorry for the long wait! I've been fighting with my mother recently, so haven't really been inspired to write...Please review! More reviews = quicker updates~ They inspire me.

Enjoy.

-ZH


	9. Chapter 8

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Eight

**0-0-0**

The ride to the police station was filled with a tense silence. Allen hadn't let go of Christine's hand the entire way, giving her a small bit of comfort. When they arrived at the police station, Lavi and Kanda were the first to leave the SUV, leaving Allen behind with an extremely nervous Christine.

"Are you ready?" he asked her softly. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I think. I mean, if I don't go now, we'll never know, right?" she said with a tight smile, trying to be optimistic. He grinned at her.

"That's right. So let's go," he said as he opened the door. Christine took a deep breath before hopping out of the vehicle. Together they walked into the police station.

Komui was waiting for them as soon as they walked through the door. When he laid eyes on them, he smiled. "Welcome! I'm glad you were able to get here so quickly."

"Better to get it over and done with, right?" the blonde girl said quietly. The police chief nodded.

"This is true. Now, if you'll come with me, we need to question the two of you." He saw the way that the girl looked at Allen, and sighed. "Unfortunately, it has to be _just_ the two of you. Confidentiality and all that." Before she was led away, Allen pulled her towards him, hugging her tightly.

"You'll be fine. And your mother will be locked up. Just tell the truth," he said reassuringly. She hugged him back quickly before stepping back with a blush spreading across her pale cheeks.

"Will do," she said with a smile.

"Okay, it's time to go now," Komui said, gesturing for Christine to follow him down a hallway. "It may take a few hours, if you want I can call you when it's over," he informed the boys.

Allen shook his head, "I'll wait." Lavi and Kanda nodded, agreeing with his statement.

"Alright. I'll try to make this as quick as possible," the bespectacled man said before he and Christine disappeared.

He led her into a nondescript room, and she stopped immediately upon setting foot in it. Her mother was sitting across from her at a table. The way that she sat – so nonchalantly, like nothing in the world was wrong – made Christine grit her teeth in frustration.

"Please take a seat," Komui instructed, his kindness disappearing to be replaced by pure professionalism. "Now, Mrs. Nicholes, you are here for questioning because of the state of your daughter, Miss Christine Nicholes." And so it began.

At first, the questions started off small. Things such as, "Where do you work?" and "How often are you home?" Then they branched off into deeper, more sensitive topics.

"Mrs. Nicholes, do you ever touch your daughter in a harmful way?" Komui asked, his mask not faltering. Christine's mother glared at him, crossing both her arms and her legs simultaneously.

"Of course not!" she said, her voice full of false kindness. "She's my daughter and I love her!"

Christine scoffed, making her mother's eyes narrow in a glare. Komui reached into a manila folder, withdrawing the photographs that they had taken on Christine's last visit to the station.

"Then what, may I ask, are theses?" he questioned. Mrs. Nicholes' eyes narrowed further, becoming mean slits in her face.

"You _bitch_," she seethed. "After all I've done for you! This is how you repay me?" She stood up abruptly, making the two officers at the back of the room become alert.

"It's not my fault!" Christine replied, standing up as well and stepping back from her mother.

"Yes it is! It's _all _your fault!" her mother screeched, jumping forward with her arms outstretched, reaching for her daughter's neck. Christine yelped with fear, falling backwards as she tripped over her own feet in an effort to get away quickly. Curling into a ball, she waiting for the blow to come.

Only, it never did. The guards jumped into action, grabbing her mother's arms and pulling them behind her back as they forced her down on the ground. Handcuffs quickly restrained her wrists, her efforts to harm her daughter futile.

Komui crossed his arms in front of his chest, an accomplished grin taking over his face. "Mrs. Diane Nicholes, you are under arrest." He dropped the manila folder on the table. "Lenalee," he paged his little sister, "would you please come into interrogation room 2 please." When she entered, he gestured towards Christine, who was still curled in a ball on the floor, shaking.

"Oh, dear," the Chinese girl murmured, racing over to kneel by her side. "Christine, dear, it's okay."

"I-is she g-gone?"

"Yes, dear. It's alright, she's gone. She can't hurt you, I promise," Lenalee reassured her. Christine broke out into sobs, burying her face into Lenalee's shoulder. Komui's little sister smiled sadly, wrapping her arms around the weeping girl, gently rubbing her back.

"I'm so…h-happy," the blonde said, hiccupping. Lenalee grinned, pulling back.

"You have nothing to be afraid of anymore, Christine!" she said happily. Christine smiled back at her, wiping her eyes.

"So…so, are we done? Is everything over?" she asked, looking up at Komui. He pushed his glasses up his nose, smiling.

"Yup! Everything is taken care of!" he said happily, hugging his sister around the waist and spinning in circles. Christine giggled at his actions.

Standing up, she opened the door and walked back the way they had come. When she got into the lobby, she giggled at the sight. Lavi was asleep, stretched across three uncomfortable looking chairs. Kanda was sitting upright with his arms crossed and his eyes closed – but Christine knew better than to think that he was sleeping. And Allen was sitting on the edge of his seat, looking anxious. When he caught sight of her, he stood up, quickly walking over to her.

"Well, how did it go?" he asked, his British accent more pronounced with his heightened emotions. She grinned up at him.

"It went well. She's locked up now. I don't have to worry about her anymore!" Allen smiled wide, wrapping her up in his arms.

"I'm so happy for you!"

* * *

**A/N:** Here's the latest chapter! But don't think that their problems are over! Oh no, they're just beginning xD. Please review! Please, Please, **_please_ review!** The more you review, the quicker my updates will come!

-ZH


	10. Chapter 9

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Nine

* * *

**0-0-0**

* * *

**A/N:** Okay guys, here's the next chapter! I decided to do the author's note at the top for now, see how I like it instead XD. Please, please please review, you guys! This chapter is kind of a filler, but it has a few key points that will definitely come to play in later chapters. Also, I want to know if you guys have anything that you'd like to see in this story? There is no definite path for it, so if you guys tell me I might be able to squeeze it in! And again, **review** please! I've been getting 12 reviews per chapter for the last couple, so I'd like to keep that going. Read on~

* * *

That Monday at school, everyone couldn't help but stare at the happy group. Well, minus Kanda of course. But then again, he was always in an angry mood. Christine was in-between Lavi and Allen, talking about what she had made for breakfast that morning, when Hailee Southside and Kaylie Brown came striding towards them. The blonde ducked her head, her hand gripping the sleeve of Allen's jacket impulsively.

"Is there something we can help you with?" Allen asked politely in that British accent of his, addressing the duo. Hailee smirked at him in what she must have thought was a sultry way, but only made her look like she was constipated. Or in labor.

"Oh, I just wanted to ask Christina here something," she said in a sweet voice. Christine looked up at her through her eyelashes.

"Her name is Christine," Lavi said, not liking where the conversation was heading. Seeing that she had the girl's attention, Hailee smirked.

"So, is it true that your mother is in _jail_ now?" she asked in an unnecessarily loud voice, drawing the attention of the students nearby. Christine raised her head. She glared at Hailee and her smirking companion with defiant eyes.

"Yes, she is," she said unwaveringly.

"Oh, _really_," said Kaylie. "What did she do?" The pink-clothed brunette leaned closer like she was sharing a particularly juicy piece of gossip.

"It's none of your business," Kanda snapped. He was fed up with standing in the middle of the hall talking to the two girls that he _really_ didn't like. Kaylie reeled back, looking as if she had been slapped in the face.

"_Excuse me_?" She asked, a smile stretching across her face.

"Did you misunderstand me?" said Kanda, his lips curled into a sneer. "I said it was none of your fucking business. Now, get out of our way so we can get to class."

Without waiting for a reply, he pushed through Hailee and Kaylie, the rest of the group following swiftly. Allen had grabbed Christine's hand, and still held it as they walked through the doorway to their first class. The teacher glanced down at their joined hands quickly, before turning back to his paperwork. The two swiftly released the other's hand and sat in their seats. The class passed by quickly.

Christine was running through the day as if on a high. With her mother now in jail, all of her normal worries were now gone. Because of that, a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Her teachers had noticed this, and least to say it confused them.

This girl had never smiled in a classroom before. Ever. So when Christine had walked into their classrooms smiling – not happily, but a small smile was on her face – and talking with the new students, her teachers immediately knew that something major had happened.

Then they heard the most popular rumor going around the school. Christine's mother had been arrested, and was now residing in a jail cell. This news shocked the school staff, but in a way it didn't. They had all, at one point in time, come into contact with the woman. Least to say, they were not impressed.

"So, um…is it o-okay if I stay with you guys for a while?" Christine asked after everyone had gotten their food and sat down at lunch. "I mean, just until I get a job and enough money to afford an apartment…" she trailed off.

"Of course! Didn't we already tell you that you could stay with us? I mean, if you want to get a job that's fine, but you don't need to move out. Right, guys?" Allen told her, smiling brightly. It made Christine wonder why Allen, who was the youngest of the group, seemingly controlled what went on in the house.

"Sure! I love having you around. Plus, we actually eat real food this way!" Lavi said, smiling through a mouthful of the salad he was eating. Christine looked to Kanda, who just gave his usual grunt of approval before going back to the noodles he had brought from home. The blonde haired girl smiled at the mutual agreement.

"Thanks so much, y-you guys," she murmured, pushing her food around on her plate. The British boy had come up with a routine in which he gave her half of his food every day, for some reason. Not that she was complaining, it's just that she didn't want to gain too much weight. Looking down at her stomach, she noticed that since she had a regular source of food, she had put on quite a few pounds. Frowning, she pushed her plate towards Allen, allowing him to devour the remaining food.

The remainder of their day passed by quickly. On the way back from the school, the group stopped at Christine's house so that she could get the remainder of her belongings. As she shoved her clothing into a duffel she had dug out from a closet in her mother's bed room, she noticed Lavi was looking around her room at the picture frames she had managed to salvage from her mother's wrath.

"Who is this, in the picture?" he asked her, handing her a picture frame that had her with one other person as children, smiling. The other person was a small girl with pinkish red hair and matching eyes that were slanted, hinting at her Oriental ancestry.

"Hmm? Oh, that was an exchange student from a while ago…I think her name was Fou. I don't remember much," she shrugged in way of apology.

Storing it away, Lavi went on to the next one while Christine worked on closing the zipper to the bag. "Umm, I think that that's everything," said the girl as she did one last sweep of her room, looking in the corners and under everything she could.

"Good! So are you ready, or do you want to walk around once more?" the red head asked her, leaning against her door frame. She smiled at him, her green eyes shining brightly.

"I'm ready to go. I don't want to see this place again!"

With that said, they quickly piled back into the black SUV, Allen's driving getting them quickly to the shared house where the boys watched as Christine went to her room.

"So, has Cross said when he'll be coming to check in on us?"


	11. Chapter 10

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Ten

* * *

**0-0-0**

* * *

"How can this be your favorite film?" Allen asked, his eyes glued to their television screen. Christine sat next to him on the couch, riveted on the movie that was playing. Lavi was curled on a recliner with a book, only half paying attention but at the same time processing everything. Kanda hadn't even bothered to come down for their movie night.

"Because, it's an amazing story! I-it's a musical, and it has Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. How can y-you not like it?" she replied, watching as the demon barber of Fleet Street slit yet another throat, sending it down to Mrs. Lovett to become a tasty meat pie. Allen laughed at her excitement, glad that he had allowed her to choose the movies they rented for the night – although he had definitely had his reservations in the beginning.

"Yeah," Allen laughed. "I guess you have –" He was cut off by a ringing coming from his pocket. "Oh, please excuse me." He stood up, digging his phone out of his pocket and answering it quickly while giving her an apologetic smile and walking out of the room.

Christine thought that it was a bit odd, but focused on her movie. When the white-haired boy came back into the room a few minutes later, he didn't say a word. He just sat down next to her on the couch and fixed his gaze on the screen.

"So, was that an important call?" Christine asked, hoping she didn't come off as being too nosy.

"Huh?" he asked. "Oh. It was just my adoptive father," he explained, a false smile covering his face. Sweat ran down the back of his neck. "He decided to come…visit."

"Oh, really?" She grew worried. Would she have to find a different place to live now that Allen's father was coming? She hoped not. "Um, when is h-he going to get here?" she asked.

"Uh, tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow?"

"Yeah…" he laughed nervously. "He never gives us much warning…"

"I see…" she said. Worried about her housing situation, she decided to just ask him about it. "So, um…Will I be able to stay here?" she questioned quietly, folding her hands in her lap nervously.

Allen looked at her with shocked silver eyes. Reaching out with his slim, pianist fingers his gently gripped her chin, lifting her head so that she was looking at him. Her green eyes were filled with fear.

"Of course you can, Christy," he smiled, and his thumb stroked a fading bruise on her cheek. "We wouldn't kick you out after everything we've been through!" Unfortunately, their moment was ruined by none other than Lavi.

"Aww, look what we have here! Yū, come see this! They're having a _moment_," the red head yelled up the stairs, a taunting grin on his face. The pair jumped apart, Christine wincing as she hit her still sore back against the arm of the couch.

"Lavi, shut up," Allen sighed, his eyes narrowing. Lavi just laughed, leaning against the door frame.

"Nah, I think I'll pass," he said. "So, whatcha two talkin' about?" he asked, moving to drape his arms over the back of the couch. The silver-headed boy tried to refrain from punching him in the face, but his eyebrow twitched as he held in his anger.

"Cross is coming."

"W-what? When? When did you find out?" Lavi exclaimed, his green eye widening in shock. Allen sighed.

"He just called me," he muttered. "He's going to be here tomorrow."

"TOMORROW?"

"What's with all of the yelling?" Kanda's voice came from the doorway. All attention turned to him.

"Cross is coming here tomorrow," Lavi said, making the Asian sigh in annoyance.

"That bastard is coming here?" he said, shocking Christine with the way he addressed Allen's adoptive father. Allen sighed.

"Yes," he told him. Kanda sighed.

"_Why_?"

"I don't know," the silver-eyes boy told them. "But you know it has to be important – at least to him – if he's coming back…" He ran his hand through his hair, making his scar more prominent.

Thinking about what his master wanted – why he would sacrifice his _precious_ drinking, gambling and womanizing time in order to visit his apprentice – made him frown. It definitely wouldn't be good. He just hoped that it was nothing too serious. He just hoped that it had absolutely nothing to do with the Noah, in any way.

* * *

**0-0-0**

* * *

A knocking on the door the next day alerted the household of Cross' arrival. Allen, who had been awake since four thirty that morning, quickly opened the door for him. He was met with the sight of a tall man with startling red hair that flowed past his shoulders. A large, vintage style hat was on his head, curved down to cover one side of his face that was also covered in a mask of sorts. He was dressed in all black, with a long coat that was trimmed in gold.

"It's about time, brat," he said, pushing past the silver haired boy. Allen sighed in irritation, knowing that the time his master spent at their house would not be pleasant for him.

"You just got here," he said, glaring at him.

"Allen?" a tired voice made the two of them look towards the stairs, where a still sleepy Christine stood in her night clothes. Allen forced himself not to blush at the sight of her in just a large t-shirt and shorts. His master, on the other hand, had no problem with going right up to her.

"I assume that this is the lovely Christine I have heard about?" he asked silkily, picking up her hand in his. She blinked at him and quickly retracted her hand.

"Yeah, that's me," she replied, leaning away from him.

"Don't worry about him, Christy. Just go back to sleep," Allen said with a large smile. The last thing he wanted was for Cross to try to come onto his friend. Nodding sleepily, the blonde girl turned around and trudged up the stairs, planning to do just as he said.

"So why are you here?" Allen turned to Cross, tucking his arms around his chest as he stared at him with fierce eyes. His master leaned against the doorframe that divided the living room from the kitchen, watching as his apprentice rummaged through the fridge.

"Well I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, brat." Cross dug through his pockets for a moment before taking out a cigarette, lighting it swiftly.

"Don't smoke in here," Allen scowled. "And what' the news?"

"The Noah have appeared again. Thought that you'd like to know," Cross said as he took a drag. Allen dropped the sandwich he had made.

"W-what?" he stuttered.

"They were spotted just north of here, apparently they were heading this way."

"Do they know where we are?" Allen asked, his head hanging and his hair covering his eyes.

"I don't know," Cross shrugged, tossing his cigarette butt in the sink. The silver-headed boy sighed.

"That's really of no help…"

"Just keep an eye out, brat." Cross fixed his hat and spun around, slamming the door behind him. Allen sunk onto a kitchen chair, knotting his finger in his hair. He didn't need this. Especially now that Christine's problems were pretty much solved. The Noah were just going to create more of what they excelled at – chaos.

* * *

**A/N:** Well here's the next chapter! I'm sorry that it took so long to get out, but at least I did...PLEASE REVIEW! The more reviews I get, the quicker my updates will be!

-ZH


	12. Chapter 11

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Eleven

* * *

**0-0-0**

* * *

Christine woke up again a few hours later. Sitting up in bed, she thought about the new arrival in the household. He was certainly….different. Getting out of bed with a yawn, she decided that it was time to get dressed and go downstairs, seeing as it was already seven in the morning and she had school.

It seemed weird, to go back to classes after everything that had happened. Now that she didn't have her mother to worry about, and she actually _had_ friends, she wondered how school would go for her. Would she be able to actually stand up for herself for once? Or would she go back to being the bullied girl that nobody cared about? It seemed as if Allen and his friends had decided to become her protectors in a sense, but what if that was a onetime thing? Christine just wanted to know.

Shaking her head to get rid of the negative thoughts swirling around in it, she went through her closet to find an outfit for school.

When Allen knocked on her door ten minutes later, she had gotten dressed in a pair of black slim fit jeans, and a dark blue long sleeved shirt that hugged her curves slightly. She topped it all off with a baggy grey hoodie and her beat up Converse.

"Are you ready to head out?" Allen asked, peeking his head through the door. Once he saw that she was fully dressed, he opened it all the way. He was dressed in his usual all black, tight clothing; his eye patch covering his eye and his hood hiding his hair. Christine's eyes widened at his look – she almost forgot how good he looked in tight clothes…

Coughing slightly, she hurried past him, trying to hide her blushing face. Confused, Allen walked after her, wondering why her face had suddenly gone red. Chuckling quietly to himself, he hopped down the stairs and out of the house, grabbing an extra apple on his way.

Kanda and Lavi were already in their SUV, Kanda driving with Lavi in the passenger seat. Christine was in the back, the door waiting open for him. As soon as he hopped in and closed the door, Kanda stepped on the gas and floored it. The blonde girl immediately grasped onto Allen's hand, squeezing tight.

"Does he always drive like this?" she whispered to him. He shivered slightly at the feeling.

"Always," he told her quietly. "Unfortunately." She kept a hold of his hand until they screeched to a stop in the school's parking lot. Allen opened the door and got out, helping Christine out as well before slamming it shut.

"So," he asked her. "Are you ready to face everybody?"

"I think so," she told him after taking a deep breath. He nodded, pulling her into the school.

The day passed by quickly. Christine wasn't sure why, but it seemed as if everyone just…left her alone for once. No one gave her dirty looks, or made snide comments as she passed them. There was no one trying to trip her as she walked down the halls. Not a single person shoved her down or knocked her stuff out of her hands.

It felt good.

Once school was out, Christine hurriedly made her way to the doors that granted her freedom. Or, that was what she had planned on.

As she quickly walked through the crowded hallways, clutching the straps of her backpack, she kept her head down. The day had gone wonderfully, and she didn't need a bully to bring it down for her.

She ran into what felt like a brick wall, just a few feet from the doors. Looking up, she saw a tall, very well dressed man standing in front of her. He had deeply tanned skin, and golden eyes that shot straight through her. The intensity made her quickly back up a few steps.

"Oh! Umm, sorry," she muttered, trying to step around him. He stopped her, stepping in front of her no matter where she stepped.

"Now, now, where's a pretty little lady like you doing trying to ignore me?" he purred, smirking down at her. Christine gulped.

"I just h-have to meet my f-friends," she stuttered, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Would those friends just so happen to include Allen Walker?" he asked, crossing his arms. Her eyes shot up to his.

"W-why? What do you want with Allen?"

"Oh, that's none of your business, babe," he told her with a smirk, running a finger through her hair. She cringed away from him.

"O-of course it's my business!" she shouted, glaring at him. "They're my _friends_!"

"Really now? Well then –"

"Tyki! Get the hell away from her!" The dark skinned man turned away from her, facing the newcomer. Allen glared at Tyki with his one visible eye, stepping in front of Christine.

"Well, well, well, just who I wanted to see!" Tyki cried, grinning wickedly.

"Cut to the chase, what the fuck do you want this time?" Allen demanded. Christine could see him shaking slightly, but she didn't know whether in anger or in fear. She didn't like this side of Allen – this side that was just radiating pure anger.

"Oh, just wanted to let you know that we were back in town, is all," Tyki told the pair nonchalantly. With a gruesome smirk in their direction, he turned around and walked away from them.

"A-Allen?" Christine asked tentatively. "Umm…Who was that?" He sighed, turning around and plastering a smile on his face.

"Don't worry about it, Christine," he replied, grabbing her hand in his own. "We'll talk once we get home, okay?"

She nodded and allowed him to pull her to the car, where Kanda sped home.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's been such a long time...Things have been er...hectic at home recently. Review, please?**

-ZH


	13. Chapter 12

Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Twelve

**0-0-0**

* * *

As they pulled to a stop in the driveway, Christine realized that there were no other cars in the driveway. So where was Allen's foster father? Asking him, she was shocked when he burst out in laughter.

"He was here for all of ten minutes this morning before taking off. God knows where he is now," he told her, grinning. She just blinked at him. Lavi laughed at her expression from the passenger seat.

"He never stays long at all. It's not unusual," he told her, his visible eye twinkling.

"Che. The bastard knows he'd be dead if he did," Kanda said, giving his input. Christine just gave the trio a strange look. She doubted she would ever understand the relationship between Cross and the residents of his house. And she wasn't quite sure she wanted to…

"Umm…okay," she murmured as she got out of the vehicle. She was still reeling from the encounter with the strange man. As the four of them shuffled inside, exhausted from a trying day at school, Christine wondered briefly if they were just going to write off her earlier confrontation. It's definitely something that someone like Allen would do. Of course, it'd only be to not worry her, but that in turn would just make her worry even more.

"So, about earlier…" Lavi started off as soon as the front door was closed. The blonde girl didn't miss the fact that he also locked and slid the chain across it.

"Yeah…um, w-what was all of that about? Who the hell was that man?" she asked, taking a seat on the plush couch. Allen sat next to her, while Lavi took the recliner to the right and Kanda had opted to stay standing.

"His name is Tyki Mikk," Allen said as he crossed one leg over the other. His hands lay folded on his knee, and Christine couldn't help but notice how good he looked sitting like that. So elegant, like someone who belonged in the 19th century. "He's…not a very good person."

"That's putting it lightly," Kanda scoffed. He sighed, leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed. "The bastard is part of a gang called the Noah. They think that they're the distant offspring of the biblical Noah. Y'know, the one with the ark?"

"Yeah, and let's just say that you need to stay away from him, okay? Far, _far_ away," Lavi put in his two cents.

"But…why? I mean, he was fuckin' creepy, but he seemed all right enough…" Christine stated, leaning back against the couch and bringing her knees up, hugging them to her chest.

"Just…trust us, yeah? It's not exactly a safe topic of conversation," Allen told her with one of his gentle smiles that managed to melt her heart every time. "We don't want to drag you into our personal problems until it's absolutely necessary."

Christine nodded, unsure. What exactly did they mean? Was she going to be in danger from these mysterious strangers? Then again, it wouldn't exactly be the first time her life would be threatened.

"Great! Now that that's taken care of, how about we have some food? I'm _starving_,"Lavi, as always, managed to lighten the mood quickly, although his eye stayed dark. The blonde girl took this as her cue to retire to the kitchen, hurriedly making a bunch of sandwiches for the two – Kanda always insisted he didn't need her to make him anything. She just thought he was being 'manly' or whatever they liked to call it. She made a few extra for him anyway.

When she walked back into the living room about fifteen minutes later, the three of them were huddled around the coffee table, deep in conversation. Even though she knew that she shouldn't, Christine hesitated by the doorway, hoping to catch a few words.

"What are we going to do?" Allen's soft British voice asked. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing his hood back.

"Allen, that's the fourth time you've asked that. For the love of god, shut up!" Lavi told him. The silver headed boy sighed in response.

"Yeah, I know. But…I mean what if Tyki tries to do something to Christy? I wouldn't put it past him; that bastard is fucking crazy." Christine suppressed a gasp at the language that Allen used. It wasn't like him to curse so freely; he must have been worried about her.

Which just made her wonder – who _exactly_ were the Noah? She had been told that they were a gang, but what kind of gang? What past did Tyki and Allen share? Was it as bad as the three boys were making it out to be?

"We just have to make sure that they don't get their hands on her; the last thing we need is more experiments," Kanda muttered, barely loud enough for Christine to hear.

Thinking it about time that she made her presence known, she cleared her throat briefly as she entered. She had a plate of sandwiches balanced between her hands, and she quickly set it down on the coffee table.

"Umm…do you need anything else?" she asked quietly. Their heads shot up, eyes wide. _Well, it's safe to say that they didn't see me eavesdropping…_she thought wryly.

"No, no, we're good. Thanks so much, Christine," Allen said, grinning brightly up at her with a sandwich in each hand, making her stomach clench with the butterflies that were currently causing havoc in it. Lavi shook his head, already stuffing his face with a sandwich. Kanda scoffed, reluctantly picking one up for himself.

"Okay then. Umm…I'm going to go do my homework," she dismissed herself, hurrying out of the room and up the stairs. Once safely in the confines of her room – she still wasn't used to calling it that – she carefully stripped. Her body was still tender with the many injuries her mother inflicted on her. Bruises still mottled her stomach and thighs, while her back was still healing with scabs over the wounds. Grimacing at her reflection, she quickly changed into a loose t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.

"Well…this has been an interesting day," she murmured as she opened her math book.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so terribly sorry it's taken me so long to get this out! I've started college, so that has taken up the majority of my time. Please review!


	14. Apology

Apology

I am terribly sorry for the lack of updates on...anything, really. I've started college up full time, so that's taken up a lot of my time. And, if any of you actually care, I'm also battling severe anxiety and depression, so the urge to write hasn't been too high.

Any ideas or inspirational thoughts are highly encouraged. Even if you just want to talk, I'm all for that.

As of right now, this story is on hiatus until I can go a day without wanting to off myself.

-Zayren.


	15. Chapter 13

Chronoa

D. Gray – Man

Chapter Thirteen

**0-0-0**

The days past slowly. The anticipation of when Tyki Mikk would finally make his presence known was hanging over all of them. Allen had been almost glued to Christine's side since that day. School had been hectic if anything; they managed to get one of them in a class with her thanks to Allen's skills at manipulation.

It was a Friday when it finally happened. Christine was just getting ready to go find Allen after getting the things she needed for the weekend from her locker. Suddenly the horrible feeling of someone watching her washed over her, and she stopped abruptly. Turning around, she had to hold back a gasp as she saw Tyki leaning on a wall not too far from where she was. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him.

"Okay, w-what do you want?" she asked. Try as she might to sound brave, she couldn't help the stutter that came out. He smirked at her, running a hand through his slicked back hair.

"I want you to come with me," he told her softly. She shook her head.

"W-what?! Hell no. Allen will be here any second you know. He's not going to like the fact that you're t-talking to me." She stood her ground. He laughed at her.

"I doubt that sweetheart," he said. An evil grin took over his face, distorting it from the usually handsome facade he wore.

"What did you do to them?!"

"Oh nothing, they're just a little bit...preoccupied." he reassured her. In truth, Road and Skin were currently distracting them for him. He had told them that he had some business with Allen's little pet, so he had called on the other members of the Noah Clan for some backup.

"Please, I'll do whatever you want, just leave them alone!" Christine pleaded. Tyki smirked at her. That's what he was counting on!

"All I want is for you to come with me," he told her softly. She took a deep breath.

"Fine."

**0-0-0**

The Noah of Pleasure took her to a surprisingly non-evil (read: not black with tinted windows) looking car and even opened the door for her. Christine clutched her backpack to her chest as he sped off, taking her to an unknown location.

"Where are we going?" she asked softly. He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you need to know?"

"I...I guess I don't," she replied, looking down at her lap. Tyki scoffed.

"Well shut up and get out, we're here," he said. All gentlemanly qualities about him were gone. He almost didn't want to do what he was about to, but it was necessary. Especially if Allen was to come forth and really _fight_ with them. He needed something to motivate him, after all.

Christine warily got out of the car, shutting the door quietly behind her. Looking around, she noticed that they were in a deserted part of town, where all of the warehouses were. If you asked her, it was a little bit cliché. She followed him into the surprisingly not run down building, the doors smoothly sliding shut behind them.

"So...what are you going to do to me?" she asked, not knowing if she truly wanted to know the answer or not.

"Well, dearest Christine, that part's simple," Tyki said. He turned around with a manic grin on his face, rolling up the sleeves of his pristine white dress shirt. "I'm going to kill you."

With that, he lunged towards her. Christine could do nothing but stand there in shock as his hand went _through_ her body. "Oh, I guess dear little Allen didn't tell you all that much about us, did he?" He grinned, stroking her heart in what could be seen as a tender gesture. "You see, each of us has a certain..._ability_. You've seen mine," he smirked at her.

"W-what..." Christine could do nothing but stare in horror at her chest, where an arm was sticking out of it.

"You see, I could make this painless," he informed her, moving lower to her stomach. "But then again...what fun would that be?" He grabbed a hold of her stomach, ripping it through her skin as painfully as he could. Her scream rang in his ears, making Tyki laugh maniacally. She grabbed at her stomach, where nothing was showing on the outside. Christine looked up at him in fright.

Tyki slid his hand back into her body effortlessly, looking at her with an almost bored expression on his face. "Well now, what shall I take from you next?" he questioned, examining her stomach with his other hand. "This one is kind of boring," he muttered to himself. Christine could do nothing but sob as her body was wracked with pain. "Shut _**up**_!" Tyki shouted, slapping her across the face. Her frail body went flying to the floor with a cry of pain. Blood dripped down from a cut on her lip. Her eye was already beginning to swell and bruise.

The Pleasure Noah crouched down next to her and shushed her, smoothing her hair down and ignoring the violent flinch she gave when he came close. "Now, now. This isn't your fault! You should be blaming your dear lover boy for this."

"This isn't A-Allen's fault, you monster!" she shouted at him, spitting blood in his face. All emotion drained from Tyki's face.

"You didn't want to do that, darling."

Hours later, screams were still ringing throughout the warehouse. Leaving the barely breathing body of the mutilated girl behind him, he dug through her back for her cell phone, which hadn't stopped ringing.

"Hello~"

"Tyki! What have you done with Christy!?" Allen's voice rang through.

"Oh, it's nothing, just a few missing organs is all~" he sang with a smirk.

"**Tyki!** Where is she?!" the silver haired boy demanded. Lavi, Kanda and Allen were all piled into their car, engine running, and ready to rush off to wherever the sadist had hidden their friend.

"Oh, just at my little warehouse." With that said, Tyki hung up the phone, crushing it in his hand. He walked back over to where Christine lay in a puddle of her own blood.

"A-Allen..." she whispered faintly, blood dotting her lips.

"Oh, don't worry dear, he's on his way," he told her, prodding one of her many open wounds, making her silently scream. Her vocal cords had been screamed raw by the torture inflicted upon her. Tyki stepped on her dislocated shoulder once more before strutting out of the door.

Not ten minutes later, the doors slammed open and Allen, followed by Lavi, Kanda and Komui, rushed in. "Christine!" Allen shouted once he laid eyes on her broken form. Rushing towards her, he fell to his knees, cradling her head in his lap.

"Allen..." she murmured, not able to open her eyes.

"Oh, Christine, hold on. We're getting an ambulance! I'm so sorry," he cried, tears streaming down his face.

"Not your fault..." she whispered, smiling slightly through cracked lips.

"Yes it is, oh god, just hold on! Please, please just...just, don't die!" he screamed. She shook her head.

"Too late...took organs," she told him breathlessly. He sobbed.

"Oh, Christine..."

"Don't worry...I'll be fine," she reassured him, managing to open her eyes enough to look into his beautiful silver orbs. "I...love you, A-Allen Walker," she whispered, before her body let out a sigh and her eyes closed for the final time.

"NO! No, Christine, come back! Come...come back," he screamed and wept. Tears clouded his eyes as he heard his friends come up behind him. "I...I love you too, Christine, I promise." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, wishing that he had gotten the guts to tell her earlier. Perhaps then, he could have changed their fate.

As the ambulance arrived and took her body, Allen vowed to bring the Noah clan to light. If only so that they wouldn't hurt another person like they had hurt his loved one.

Because after all, even if he didn't get his own happy ending, he would make sure that justice was brought forth. It was the least he could do for her.

For Christine.

* * *

**Oh yeah. I did it. **

**This story wasn't going anywhere, and so this is the result...sorry guys! **

**Please review!**

**Also, if anyone likes Transformers, check out my other stories! Also, I'm thinking about starting up an Avengers fic. Any thoughts on that?**

**For the last time, Thanks for reading.**

**-ZH**


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